– There are just five tournaments left to bring the 2024 European Tour season to a close. The Open de France starting this Thursday, the Estrella Damm Andalucía Masters in Sotogrande next week, the Genesis Championship in Korea, and for those who qualify, the two final playoffs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. At this stage, the Spanish player who has signed the most scorecards in the ‘sixties’, meaning below seventy, is Ángel Hidalgo, with a total of 36. Not a bad statistic.
– Next, still speaking only of the European Tour, are Nacho Elvira and Adrián Otaegui, both with 31. And very close is Alejandro del Rey, with 30. We will see how things end when the season concludes.
– Hidalgo has played below seventy strokes in 39.56 percent of the occasions (36 rounds out of 91 played). This is another truly remarkable statistic, although in this percentage category he is surpassed by Nacho Elvira, who reaches 43.05 (31/72). It’s no surprise that both are the best Spaniards right now in the Race to Dubai.
– The cases of David Puig and Jon Rahm, LIV Golf players and therefore with much less presence in the DP World Tour, are also worth mentioning. Puig has played ten rounds below seventy strokes in this circuit this year, exactly half of the total (10/20). The same goes for Rahm, who has signed 11/22 rounds below seventy strokes (both played the Games in Paris, which obviously count). What David and Jon have achieved is tremendous in any case, as most of these rounds have been played in Majors, where it is much more challenging to go below the seventy mark. In fact, Puig is the only Spanish player who has signed two scorecards below 70 strokes in the Majors in 2024 (both in the US Open).
– Number of scorecards in the ‘sixties’ in the DP World Tour 2024 (*):
1. Ángel Hidalgo, 36 in 91 rounds played
2. Nacho Elvira, 31/72
2. Adrián Otaegui, 31/85
4. Alejandro del Rey, 30/81
5. Manu Elvira, 23/80
6. Jorge Campillo, 21/54
7. Rafa Cabrera Bello, 19/72
8. Santi Tarrio, 18/84
9. Iván Cantero, 17/68
10. Adri Arnaus, 16/69
11. Sebas García, 15/61
12. Alfredo García Heredia, 12/49
12. Pablo Larrazábal, 12/54
14. Jon Rahm, 11/22
15. David Puig, 10/20
– So far, there has only been one Spanish player who has completed two entire tournaments with four rounds below seventy strokes. It has been Ángel Hidalgo. He did it at the Jonsson Workwear Open (67, 64, 67, 68) and in the Belgian Soudal (67, 68, 69, 69). Adrián Otaegui also achieved two full sets, but one of them, at the Volvo China Open, a tournament he won, was only three rounds.
– Alejandro del Rey has signed up to eight scorecards with 66 or fewer strokes. Quite impressive. No Spaniard surpasses this record in the current year and in the DP World Tour. Manu Elvira has reached six, which is also quite good. Although in this category Jon Rahm stands out again: five of his eleven scorecards below seventy were also 66 or fewer strokes…
– Also noteworthy is Campillo‘s sprint, who has 21 scorecards below 70 strokes in just 54 attempts, as this year he has had to divide his efforts by also playing in the PGA Tour.
– Finally, for entertainment and delight: Scottie Scheffler has signed 54 scorecards below seventy strokes in 79 rounds played in the 2024 PGA Tour season. And 31 of those 54 were 66 or fewer strokes… What a scandal.
(*) The US Open qualifying round and the Barracuda Championship, which is played under a stableford format, have not been counted.
