It was a golf version of David versus Goliath at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid on Sunday: Angel Hidalgo, the longshot underdog, produced a 1-under 70 and then took down the world-class Goliath, Jon Rahm, on the second overtime hole to claim his maiden European tour trophy at the 2024 Espana (Spanish) Open.
The 26-year-old Spaniard, who held the pole position after each round, got off to a nightmare start on Sunday with three bogeys on his opening six holes to briefly lose the lead to another compatriot, David Puig (71), while falling into a tie with Rahm, who himself started slowly, for the second position.
As the 54-hole leader settled down, Puig began to struggle, quickly ending his reign atop the leaderboard in Madrid – leaving Sunday’s battle royale between Hidalgo and Rahm.
Hidalgo matched Rahm with birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 to turn with a one-shot lead. Rahm then made birdie on 10 to tie things up again but inexplicably made a mess of 13, resulting in a double bogey-6 to fall two off the pace. Both players matched scores (birdie-par-par) on the card for the next three holes. Rahm shaved one stroke off from the deficit when he holed a 19-foot birdie putt. He also birdied the last to finish on 14 under and force a playoff.
With the par-4 18th drivable, Hidalgo found the front of the green while Rahm landed pin high in the rough, leading to birdies for both players.
On the second go-round on 18, Rahm’s poor tee ball into the thick, sloping rough near the grandstands all but ended the tournament. Rahm’s chip shot rolled through the green while Hidalgo chipped his ball to within two feet for the clincher.
Game over. Spain’s David had beaten Spain’s Goliath. And Hidalgo seemed absolutely stunned to have taken down the Espana Open GOAT, and two-time major winner.
“Because I was — I don’t know if it was two years ago, three years ago,” said Hidalgo, ranked 388 in the world. “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.
“To be here and win the tournament is unreal. It’s unreal. Oh, my gosh. It’s amazing.”
He added, “It’s insane. I don’t have the words right now to explain what I can feel. Pretty happy. Pretty happy.
“This is a long, long walk. We fight a lot. We work a lot. Yeah, the trophy is with us and here in Spain, it’s unbelievable.”
Tommy Fleetwood (66) and David Puig (71), who held the tournament lead after seven holes on Sunday, headlined a six-player logjam at 10 under.
Jayden Schaper (67) finished alone in the ninth position on 9 under, one clear of Patrick Reed (71), Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (69), who finished T10 on 8 under.
2024 Spanish Open
Top-10 Leaders: Final
Pos-Player-To Par (Score)
1. Angel Hidalgo -14 (-1)
2. Jon Rahm -14 (-3)
3. Grant Forrest -10 (-7)
3. Sean Crocker -10 (-5)
3. Tommy Fleetwood -10 (-5)
3. Jens Fahrbring -10 (-3)
3. Joe Dean -10 (-2)
3. David Puig -10 (E)
9. Jayden Schaper -9 (-4)
10. Alfredo Garcia-Heredia -8 (-2)
10. Tyrrell Hatton -8 (-3)
10. Patrick Reed -8 (E)
