Spanish golf will have two good victory options this Sunday at the Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa. The magic of Ángel Hidalgo (-18) and the grit of Iván Cantero (-17) have made their way through a complicated moving day to put within reach what could be the first triumph of their careers on the DP World Tour. Hidalgo is the one who has bought more tickets of the two. The player from Malaga has handed in a card of 67 strokes and has positioned himself just two strokes behind the leader Matteo Manassero (-20), while Cantero is three behind.
Ángel, true to his style, has put emotion, intensity and a lot of magic into his golf. There are not many players right now on the DP World Tour who transmit more to the fan than the Andalusian. He is a Marcel Siem or Pablo Larrazábal in Guadalmina version.
Hidalgo has added six birdies and an eagle on the day, executing some very special shots, like the second on the 9th, surrounded by trees to leave himself a clear birdie option; or the second on the 16th, over the cloth and to which a small tie has prevented the eagle in full recoil effect; or the second on the 17th, a marvel from the left rough that ended three meters from the hole for eagle. Inside. It has been a sensational display. A collection of irons to frame.
The player from Las Brisas was not far from going out on Sunday even as the sole leader. He made three mistakes all day. The first, bogey on the 4th, par 5, after missing the exit by a lot. The second was after missing a short putt on the 15th. He threw it to the board to avoid the fall and it went to the right. The third was on the 18th, after missing from the center of the fairway the shot to green, to the bunker, and not being able to make the recovery. He also deserved more on the 11th, par 5. He had horrible bad luck. He hit a great second shot on this par 5, the ball was going straight to the flag, but the bounce on the fairway, about five meters from the green, instead of going forward, bounced hard to the left and ended up in the water. He made the par when he was pointing to a clear eagle option.
Cantero, on the other hand, has been somewhat more irregular, less solid, more in tow. It should not be forgotten, in any case, that it was his first moving day in the fight to win on the European circuit. Lacking consistency, the Asturian has shown spectacular race. He has clung to the ground with everything he had, such as sinking a sensational eagle chip on the 17th, and hitting a great shot on the 15th, par 3. The fight has been rewarded with another birdie chip on the 18th. Two approaches from outside the green sunk to finish and a door open to victory.
The classification is really quite compromised after a day of very favorable conditions until the game had to be interrupted for about an hour by an electrical storm that came with a downpour. The last match was already on the 17th green. There was time to return and complete the round. It was a day of many birdies and you had to press the accelerator to the bottom from start to finish.
Manassero has played great golf. Beyond the exit of hole 3, he has gotten into very few problems and really only lacked a little more success/luck with the putter to have had a more comfortable distance in the lead.
We have thirteen players separated only by five strokes and all of them have options for victory, especially if, as expected, the playing conditions on Sunday are very good again. Bet on very low rounds. Of those coming from behind, beyond the two Spaniards, there are names that shine more strongly when thinking about a possible winner, such as Jordan Smith (-19), Shaun Norris (-19), Oliver Bekker (-18), Tom McKibbin (-16) or even Thriston Lawrence (-14).
In this sense, those who have not moved up enough today have been Nacho Elvira (-9) and Santi Tarrio (-9), after handing in cards of 69 and 70 strokes. They occupy the 40th position.
