Angel Hidalgo was proclaimed champion of Spanish Golf Open 2024. The Malaga man won the tiebreaker Jon Rahm, signing two birdies on the two holes where first place was decided. The Andalusian achieved the victory of his career, at the age of 28, managing to maintain the first place in which he started the day on Sunday. The other Spaniard in the running, David Puig He didn’t have his best day and couldn’t keep up, even though he finished four strokes behind both of them.
The Spanish trio started the day in the lead. The three formed the final group that began competition on the final day of the tournament. Three players compete at home for the most important title held in our country. Almost nothing.
Inside Villa de Madrid Country ClubRahm looked to find himself two years later with victory. There were doubts about how his two main rivals would perform, unaccustomed to fighting for titles with the best. In particular a Angel Hidalgo who entered the final day as leader, two strokes ahead.
The Olympian David Puig He was three points ahead and started in spectacular fashion. Three birds In the first seven holes he was expected to be in the lead, but then he fell. Five bogeys followed him to the end, losing any chance of victory. Because ahead, Rahm And Gentleman They had a very balanced battle.
The pressure seemed to be able Gentleman at first, making only one birdie in the first six holes, but making three bogeymen. But he managed to recover, which, with a double bogey of Rahm, which was not good at all, it left him with options until the end. He was even aiming for a winner, but the Barrica player reacted in time, under par on the last two holes, to force the tie-break.
Both finish with a score of -14, which forces them to fail. There, against all odds, Hidalgo took his first Spanish Open. The man from Marbella managed to sign a bird, like Rahm, on the first of the playoff holes. However, he took advantage in the second to snatch from the Basque what would have been his fourth title in Spain.
Rahm If he failed, he signed a second elimination hole at par, giving Hidalgo the opportunity to be crowned champion if he managed to pocket the ball, which he had left less than a meter from the hole. He managed to escape by making a birdie and winning the tiebreaker for first place, thus certifying his victory in the Spanish Open.
Angel Hidalgo’s triumph leaves Rahm without a chance to match Severiano Ballesteros. The Cantabrian has won the Spanish Open four times, for the three in which he won it Rahm. The Basque did it in 2018, 2018 and finally in 2022. After not being able to seize it last year, this year he had a new opportunity, but it was not possible.
Although he competed until the end, this time the victory was taken away from him in the tiebreaker by a Angel Hidalgo who signs the greatest victory of his career. At 28, the man from Malaga managed to close the Spanish Open and become champion. Through tears he celebrated his victory as soon as it was confirmed, with a definitive blow in which his nerves did not take any casualties and allowed him to achieve victory.
