A piece of advice. As a general rule. Don’t believe everything you see. Much less believe everything you see on the tournament shot tracker of the DP World Tour. The one from the first round of the KLM Open, for example, says that Ángel Hidalgo (-4) made a good two-metre putt for par on the 12th hole. Well, it was actually four. Even more serious. It says he lost the ball in the right semi-rough on the 5th hole. Sure, no one says it’s easy to hit from the semi-rough, but losing a ball there, not quite. His ball was much further to the right, well tucked into a bush. The result is the same, but the details matter a bit.
What you should believe is the score at the end of his card. Hidalgo shot 67, with seven birdies. Rejoice. His best round on a Thursday in 2025. It was about time. He has placed himself in the top 10, three shots behind the leader Ricardo Gouveia (-7) and just one off the crowded third place. The man from Malaga took off today at The International in Amsterdam. Beyond the fact that the course is next to the legendary Schiphol Airport, the current champion of the Open de España has reunited with an old friend. That’s what made him fly.
That old friend is the putter. It had been a while since Hidalgo felt so good on the greens. Beyond what he holed, which was quite a lot, the most important thing is that he felt comfortable. Like those times you meet an old friend you haven’t spoken to in over a year, yet the conversation flows as if not even two days have passed.
Of course, the putter is a most elusive friend. You can never trust it. Tonight it might go out for cigarettes and not return for one or two months. Everyone knows this, so it’s wise to be cautious. Step by step. Today, very good. Tomorrow, we’ll see. The good thing is that Hidalgo has no problem changing instruments. This very week he’s playing with a new one. He picked it up for the first time yesterday. And today it worked. Let’s clarify this matter in case there’s confusion: Ángel’s old friend has always been the putter, regardless of which putter it was. One of his main weapons has always been on the greens, but he had been struggling in this area for months.
Anyway, he’s already up there and the feeling is different. He needed it. This is just the beginning, but today should be seen as a step forward. Hidalgo was the best Spaniard. Jorge Campillo (-2), Nacho Elvira (-2), and Rafa Cabrera Bello (-2) also had a more than notable start. Another breadcrumb from the Canary Islander on the way back. Conditions today in the Netherlands were not easy. The wind blew all day and big misses are heavily punished on this course.
Only four Spaniards are under par, but all of them are well positioned, more than justified to look upwards rather than downwards. The start at PAR isn’t bad either, and there we have Pablo Larrazábal (PAR), Manu Elvira (PAR), and Ángel Ayora (PAR). After all, they are only five shots away from third place. A breath. Many bullets in the chamber. Good.
From here, everyone is over par. Within the cut are Iván Cantero, Alex del Rey, and Joel Moscatel, all at +1. The rest are already trailing: Eugenio Chacarra (+2), Albert Boneta (+4), or Gonzalo Fernández Castaño (+7). Interestingly, there are four players in this tournament within the top 100 in the world, and all have started with +2 or worse: Laurie Canter, Thriston Lawrence, Rasmus Neergaard Petersen, and Haotong Li.
