The acciona Open de España is shaping up to be a real humdinger! Madrid’s Club de Campo Villa de Madrid is where all the action is, and Angel Hidalgo is the man of the hour.
With a lovely two-stroke lead and a third-round score of 68, Hidalgo’s sitting pretty at 13 under, and boy, he’s been a treat to watch since he opened with a cracking 65.
This chap, aiming for his first big win on the DP World Tour, isn’t just playing golf; he’s setting the pace, making it look easy.
Angel Hidalgo: “I played good. I missed a few shots to the right yesterday. I felt my clubs was heavy today.
But it’s true, after the short putt I missed on 12, I played great golf, I think. Three-under in the back part of the course is pretty good. I’m pretty happy.
“Sounds pretty good. The match will be really good. I know really good David. I played with him when I was young.
Yeah, with Jon, what can I say? He’s the G.O.A.T. in this tournament. I don’t know how many times he won, like three times or four times, I don’t know. Yeah, pretty happy. I can’t wait to arrive to the first tee tomorrow.”
And who’s joining him in the final round? None other than Jon Rahm, Spain’s golfing pride and a two-time major champion, and young gun David Puig.
Rahm, who’s had to play parts of this tournament with a wonky driver, still managed to dazzle us by nabbing birdies on two of the last three holes, bringing his total to 11 under.
Puig’s right there too, just a whisker behind at 10 under after matching Rahm’s 65.
Rahm’s chasing a bit of history himself. He’s tied with the late, great Seve Ballesteros with three Open de España wins and is hungry for one more to break that tie right here in Madrid—same as where Seve sealed his final tour win.
Jon Rahm: Overall, very good day. I felt good with pretty much everything. Felt better than any other day.
Felt stronger. Unfortunate situation over there on the sixth tee to have to — to not be able to go over the creek on that hole, was going to be pretty easy today, and to have to play seven into the wind with 3-wood.
And then after that, it didn’t really affect me too much. Maybe a couple longer irons coming into some par fours.
But at the end of the day on this course, if you put it in the fairway, you’re always going to be better than hitting the driver off line. Did a pretty good job mitigating that.
But I was happy to get the driver as quickly back as I did. I just assumed I was going to play the rest of the round without it.
I was happy to hear the news on 12 that I was going to have it by 14. I think it might have been what — I don’t know, just a little moment of happiness that gave me a little boost for the rest of the round.
I’m very excited. I have yet to be paired with them in any tour in any tournament. We play a lot at home and it just hasn’t happened yet.
I’m glad that our first time is going to be here in the final round and final group.
I don’t know what Angel is doing now on 18. With how 18 is playing now, possibly two or three back, which is not a massive difference on this golf course. I’m excited to see him in action.
He’s a very high-quality player and I’m excited to see Angel, as well. He’s been playing really good the last few years.
And hopefully I can end up with the win but it’s definitely going to be a Sunday atmosphere-wise that they haven’t experienced yet.
There’s going to be a lot of people watching, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Meanwhile, a few strides back, we’ve got Joe Dean and Patrick Reed from the States tied for fourth at eight under, and they’re still in the mix.
Sweden’s Jens Fahrbring and another local, Adri Arnaus, are also hovering just behind, ready to make their moves.
Tomorrow’s showdown is set to be a belter with this trio of Spaniards at the helm. Will Hidalgo clinch his first tour win, or will Rahm make history?
Madrid’s buzzing, and so are we—can’t wait to see how this one turns out!
