Friday’s morning session at the ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid turned out perfectly for everyone involved. The weather was fantastic and the wind was significantly lighter than during round one, much to the delight players and fans alike. Add to that the fact that the Spanish contingent is proving their desire to get their hands back on the prestigious trophy and you have the perfect mix as far as the Spanish fans at Club de Campo are concerned.
The man stealing the headlines at the tournament, along with Jon Rahm, of course, is Angel Hidalgo, a player who has rarely held the clubhouse lead at a DP World Tour event and after doing so on day one, he has repeated the feat today with a solid second outing during which he managed to pull away from the pack:
“I’m very happy and very proud of the round I had today. It was a very good day on which the main goal was not to have any slip ups and that will now be the goal for tomorrow because I certainly achieved it today. I managed to put yesterday’s round out of my mind, concentrating on my golf and taking my chances”.
The Andalusian started his day, from the 10th tee, in spectacular form. The leader came flying out of the blocks with two birdies on the trot (10th and 11th), but a poor tee shot on the 12th led to a bogey that halted his early momentum. That, however, would be the only mistake of his second round and, as a result, he was able to enjoy his moment in the limelight: “Generally, I wasn’t nervous, just at a couple of points where I had important putts that would have hurt more than normal if I’d missed them. I managed to be relaxed, feel good over the ball and also to be aware of all the people that were supporting me. Yesterday I was on cloud nine, I just wanted to get to the next shot and play so that I could enjoy the moment”.
Heading into the weekend, Hidalgo is not allowing himself to dream of lifting the trophy, he is all too aware that, although he’s playing very well, there is a long way to go at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid: “The favourite is hot on my heels, and I’d say he has a 99% chance of winning this tournament, but I’m going to keep playing my golf and I’ll keep the other 1% for myself to see if we can cause an upset. If I have to play with Rahm in the last group on Sunday, I’ll certainly be trembling on the first tee and there’s a risk of an air shot, but from the second shot I’m sure I’ll relax and everything will be better. Hopefully I can experience that, it would be a good sign”.
The other good news for the Armada on Friday morning, apart from that of Jon Rahm (see here for the article), was that Asturias native Alfredo Garcia Heredia, who seems to love playing at the ACCIONA Open de España, fired a 4-under 67 that catapulted him into third place:
“The second round was great. Yesterday I played very well considering the weather, and today I played just as well but managed to take a few more birdie chances”.
There’s something about Club de Campo that suits Alfredo Garcia Heredia, he always seems to play well here. Having finished in the Top 10 in the last two editions, he touched down in the Spanish capital this year in fine fettle and without the added pressure of trying to keep his card that will have dogged him in previous seasons: “I think it’s Spain in general, I always seem to play well here. I like the climate, the food, the people… I feel comfortable here. Club de Campo is a good course, I like it and it has small greens, which suits me because I’m a good iron player”.
Heredia is getting used to finishing his seasons with a flourish, and 2024 would seem to be no different. His habitually strong September/October was preceded this year by a superb performance three weeks ago in Crans, where he fell at the final hurdle in a playoff with Matt Wallace: “There are always ups and downs in professional sport and I always seem to get an ‘up’ at this time of year, I think it’s because I can smell the danger. This year the pressure is different because that tournament gave me my card for 2025, but I also got other positives from it that I hope will help me if I’m in the same position on Sunday, although a playoff is always something of a lottery. I hope the wind blows this weekend because I feel comfortable and I think it will benefit me over the rest”.
The second round was also a positive one for Madrid natives Sebas Garcia and Alex Del Rey, both of them shot -2 in the same group to enter into the Top 15 and Top 25, respectively.
Pablo Larrazábal and Adrián Otaegui also went under par this morning and they should not be written off for the weekend because they have both proved they are capable of going very low on Club de Campo’s Black Course.
