Jon Rahm (-2) and Ángel Hidalgo (-2) have achieved two results that can be considered remarkable on the first day of the Estrella Damm Andalucía Masters. They won’t finish the day in the top 10, not even close, but they can go home happy after a round of golf that seemed headed for disaster. On the 9th hole, at the end, Jon told Ángel that “considering that on the 5th it seemed like we were going to finish in an ambulance, not too bad,” joked the man from Barrika.
This was the friendly and fun tone of the match and one of the keys to their good finish. With five holes to go, both were at +1 on their scorecard, far from the top spots, and they managed to sign a brilliant three-under-par finish to stay absolutely alive in the tournament. They even enjoyed themselves while struggling on the course.
“In the first five holes today, I talked to Jon more than I did all Sunday in Madrid,” Hidalgo said at the end of his round. Jon didn’t quite feel comfortable with the irons in the first thirteen holes, while Ángel struggled a lot from the tee, so much so that it led to one of the day’s anecdotes. “After sending the ball to the trees on the right on the 6th hole and hitting the green from out of position, Jon told me: you know you can play golf normally too, right? It’s okay if on the 7th you hit the fairway, the green, and two putts. It’s okay,” said the man from Marbella, who until that moment had only hit three fairways.
“Of course, on the 7th I also missed the fairway, to the bunker. The truth is, we laughed a lot. We had a good time,” Ángel summarised before making a very particular request: “If they take away the tee shots on the 7th and 10th, I’m happy. I can handle the rest, but those two…”. And he clarified: “I’m neither good with the 3-wood nor is my strength the draw shot (right-to-left effect) and the 7th tee shot requires both…”.
Rahm confirmed how much fun they had. “My dad told me about Ángel: ‘he seems Basque with how bold he is. It’s very fun to play with him, he hits shots you don’t see very often. Let’s see if tomorrow we can have just as much fun and shoot slightly lower rounds,” wished the man from Biscay.
