– Ángel Hidalgo has hit his second shot on the 6th hole of the Majlis course this Saturday and told his caddie: “Look, now I finally know what Scottie Scheffler feels like when playing golf.” The addressed, Gonzalo Vicente, laughed at Hidalgo’s usual good humour, but knew he wasn’t exaggerating. Hidalgo’s first six holes today at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic have been precise. Very Scheffler-like. He hit the spot every time and left himself reasonable birdie chances each time. He only made one, but missed two clear ones on holes 3 and 4 and two makeable ones on 1 and 5. No suffering. Unusual for Hidalgo.
Everything went dark on the 6th hole with a three-putt that ended in a bogey. “That’s when I came back to reality,” he joked with Ten Golf afterwards. Beyond Ángel’s amusing exaggerations, the most important thing is that he’s playing very good golf at the start of 2026. He’s looking back. “I’d say it’s what’s been happening to me for the last two years. I can’t capitalise on everything I generate, I don’t take advantage of the opportunities. It’s not just a putting issue, which I feel good about right now, it’s a kind of dynamic that doesn’t fall my way. We could say that I’ve been unable to make even one more stroke per round for a long time,” he confesses. Against this, he knows, there’s only one recipe: patience and waiting for it to happen. Who knows if it will be this Sunday or next week in Bahrain.
– Ángel Ayora has signed a very good card of 69 strokes today, and that’s despite the 6th hole, the cursed 6th hole, crossing his path again. He hit a slightly left drive off the tee, but not too bad, and all the bad luck allied against him. It bounced hard in the rough and shot into a bush. He had to drop and got a very good bogey. He even had par chances. Beyond this mishap, his golf was quite orderly. He lacked taking a bit more advantage of his birdie chances, although he didn’t have many complaints about his round. He’s back within reach of the top 10. He needs a great round tomorrow. The best thing today is that he only made one mistake that he wants to eliminate from the equation, those of missing on the wrong side due to not making a correct reading of the situation. Today it happened on the 11th hole and ended with a bogey.
– Alex del Rey never disappoints when it comes to honesty. Today he played very good golf again and shot 69. He’s also within reach of the top 10 and even more if he shoots a very low round. Today he didn’t hit the driver as well, but he was very sharp with the irons. When we talk about his honesty, we refer to the shot on the 18th. It was a spectacular hybrid after teeing off with the mini driver and ended with a very clear eagle chance of less than three metres in line with the flag. “It was a great shot, but actually it was a mistake. I was aiming left of the flag, not on its line, but I hit it a bit on the toe and it went there.”
– Iván Cantero is also displaying powerful golf. The Asturian is happy with his bag, with all the clubs, with the ball. But he doesn’t quite feel comfortable with the fast greens at Emirates. “You see, I come from playing on much slower surfaces at home and it’s costing me. I can’t quite get the rhythm,” he assures. That’s why he’s not taking advantage of as many chances and is getting into more trouble than he should. In any case, he’s on the right path and he knows it. His 7-wood is truly remarkable. If you’re near him, ask him to hit it…
– Watch out for Christiaan Maas (-3). The South African amateur is in the top 10. It’s the third professional tournament counting for the world ranking he’s playing in his career. He made the cut at Leopard Creek in 2024, finished fourth at the South African Open in 2025, and now he’s in the top 10 at the Desert Classic. Watch out for him…
– Victor Perez arrived with a one-under score on his return to the 18th hole. Still with a birdie, he could close a quite remarkable round. Well, he ended with a 10. He hit three balls into the water: the second, fourth, and sixth shots. A tremendous short circuit.
– Confirmed rumour: TaylorMade and Lucas Herbert are in court over the breach of their contract due to his move to LIV Golf. The brand has told all its players that it’s fine if they want to go to LIV, but they must respect the contract. Otherwise, it’s off to court…
