The harvest is not to write home about. We agree. Of the thirteen Spaniards who started the British Masters on Thursday, we only have three left. Another tough cut for the Armada. In any case, as the summer is coming to us on the DP World Tour, we should not turn up our noses at the matter. Let’s stick with the positive. We have Jorge Campillo fighting for victory, in second place one stroke behind Tyrrell Hatton, tied with Brandon Stone and Jeong Weon Ko, and Sebastián García Rodríguez (-2), who needed it a lot, and Ángel Hidalgo (-3), who scrapes everything he can and, although his situation is much more relaxed in terms of keeping the card, no one is going to take away his dream of fighting to get into Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Sebas has struck oil again at The Belfry. He has made four consecutive cuts on this revered English course. Not bad. The most important thing is that he stops a haemorrhage, cauterises a wound. If we were talking before about how badly things are going for the Armada this summer, the Madrid native is a living example, at least until today. Since he made the cut at the KLM Open, a tournament that ended on 23 June, Sebas has chained four consecutive missed cuts, too much for someone who is playing for the card and needs to do well these weeks to be able to play the Back Nine in full. Let’s say he put himself against the ropes, a situation he has been in before and from which he has emerged. This week he can steer his situation.
The golfer from El Robledal shot 70 on Friday and is at -2, on the edge of the top 25 in the tournament. That is, he has more than enough margin to sign off a good weekend and score a good haul of points. Remember that Sebas is currently in 114th place in the Race to Dubai, just outside those who retain their card. There is still room, but the sooner it is resolved, the better.
Meanwhile, Ángel Hidalgo (-3) also shot 70, including a sensational eagle on the 17th hole. He made a putt about 13 metres. The Malaga native is a very good putter, although in recent times he has had his ups and downs with this part of the game. Therefore, making long putts like this from time to time, reconciles you with life, much more if it is for an eagle. “Off the top of my head I would say it’s the third one I’ve made from that distance all year. I made another one on the 10th hole of the first round in Ras al Khaimah and another one fell on the 13th of the Open Championship on the second day. Yes, trumpet, that’s what we call long putts in Andalusia”, he explains to Ten Golf. Well, now you know, long live the trumpets.
Hidalgo has moved into 20th place, just three strokes off the top 10. He is playing well and, above all, hitting good irons whenever he is in position. If he can straighten out the driver a bit over the weekend, we could see him among the top ten in the tournament. Precisely, a few missed tee shots are what has cost him the most in these first 36 holes, among other things because the Brabazon course is very tense.
As for the standings, not much has changed from morning to afternoon. Campillo (-9) will share the star match with Hatton (-10) and Ko (-9). Also in the top 10 are Niklas Norgaard (-8) and Lucas Bjerregaard (-6), who is continuing his good performance from last week and needs it to keep playing, as he barely has a category on the DP World Tour. On the negative side are the cuts missed by Lacroix, Migliozzi and McKibbin, players who are very high up in the Race to Dubai.
