Jon Rahm is a living legend at Open de Espana, where this week he was seeking his fourth career title at his homeland’s national championship.
Late in the final round on Sunday, it looked like Rahm might do it, when he birdied his final two holes at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid to muscle his way into a playoff.
But another Spaniard ultimately stole Rahm’s thunder. After missing a 4-footer to the win title on the 72nd hole, unheralded 26-year-old Angel Hidalgo birdied back-to-back holes in the playoff against Rahm to claim the victory — his first on the DP World Tour.
“I was pretty relaxed all day, even the first tee, I don’t know why,” Hidalgo, who came into the week as the 398th-ranked player in the world, said after the round. “Even when I missed the short putt [at the first] — or this one, hole 72 — I was not discouraged.”
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Hidalgo’s David-defeats-Goliath win put a cap on a stunning ascendance. Just a couple of years ago, Hidalgo, a two-time Spanish Amateur champion and former Alps and Challenge Tour player, was onsite for the Open de Espana — but not as a player, as a fan.
“Two or three years ago, I was in exactly this course, the first tee, in the trees, supporting Jon — without playing, I just come here to Madrid to see the tournament,” he said. “To be here and win the tournament is unreal.”
Hildago fired rounds of 65-67-68-70 to notch the win. Still, he wasn’t convinced it was going to happen halfway through the final round.
“On the 8th tee, I thought David Puig [another Spaniard] is going to win the tournament by eight because he was hitting amazing, and Jon and myself made a few mistakes,” he said.
Winning a national open on home soil for your maiden title is pretty heady stuff, but taking down Rahm made it even more special for Hidalgo.
“He’s the most important player from the last 20 years or 30 years in Spain,” he said. “So that’s an extra point.”