Last Monday, Ángel Hidalgo would have signed any paper put in front of him to make the cut at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. It has been well explained that he could hardly train in December and entered the tournament week with a severe case of tonsillitis. However, few athletes live more in the present than golfers. Yesterday doesn’t count. Therefore, once he made the cut, the expectations were quite different from finishing in the 68th position. He left Dubai with disappointment but with a clear idea of what had happened.
The Malaga native is not one to make excuses, but everything that has happened in recent weeks has taken its toll. “I wouldn’t say I’ve been tired, but I have lacked concentration. It’s possible that it’s related. On Thursday and Friday, I was very focused on each shot, but on Saturday and Sunday, it was much harder. I’m not going to say I was just hitting shots for the sake of it, but almost. I think the period of inactivity has a lot to do with it,” he tells Ten Golf.
It’s worth remembering that Hidalgo arrived in Dubai without a competitive round under his belt since the Nedbank at the end of November. He has been almost inactive for a month. “Everything has come together; it’s also true that I had to play very early three of the four days and couldn’t rest well. I was going to bed very late at home because I had nothing else to do, and here it was very hard to go to bed before midnight… and of course, then the alarm went off at four,” he notes.
Basically, Hidalgo needs a pre-season like he needs food. It’s the disadvantage he currently has with the rest after his visit to the operating theatre. The good news is that he already has a date. Initially, Ángel plans to play the entire desert tour, including Ras al Khaimah, Bahrain, and Qatar. Afterwards, he will play in Kenya and from there, he will start his pre-season. In the next seven weeks, he will only play the Hero Indian Open, so he will take the opportunity to get in shape, both technically and physically. In this second area, he will have the supervision of Gonzalo Vicente, his caddie. Everything they theoretically should have done from the end of November to the beginning of January will be concentrated in March and a good part of April.
Hidalgo, who has his card secured this year due to his victory at the Open de España, knows he must be patient. He doesn’t want to deceive himself and knows he will need time to really get in shape. In fact, with all honesty, he assures that he doesn’t believe his best version will arrive until the tournament in Turkey at the beginning of May. However, if an opportunity to seize a victory crosses his path between now and then, no one should doubt that he will go all out for it. He also doesn’t mind having a low profile from now until May and seeking a surprise.
