The Spanish Armada has every reason to be proud. The effervescent dynamic of the morning round of play on the first day of the Spanish Open has continued into the afternoon, to the point where eight Spaniards are clustered in the top 12 of the tournament, or in other words, in the exclusive section of the leaderboard where the scarce 28 players who have managed to play under par at the end of the day are located. That’s what golf with wind is like, especially when it starts to blow with gusts that exceeded forty and even fifty kilometres per hour…
Among them, of course, the leader stands out, Ángel Hidalgo (-6), who at times seemed to be playing another course, with a six-under par for the first nine holes of the Black Course at the Club de Campo, including an eagle on hole 4, where he hit a truly insane second shot from about 220 metres, to leave the ball just over two metres from the cup.
Arnaus (-3), Puig (-2), Masaveu (-2), Campillo (-1), García Heredia (-1) and Moscatel (-1) complete the local under par display in this first round of Madrid winds. Okay, okay, we haven’t forgotten: and Jon Rahm (-3). The one who was missing. The real lord of these lands, as long as someone like Matthieu Pavon (-1), second two years ago and winner last year, doesn’t insist on challenging him.
Was there any doubt that the one from Barrika would get into the fight from the first round? Well, in all honesty and without setting a precedent, of course there were doubts about it. More than reasonable doubts, considering his recent fatherhood, the last-minute flight, the jet lag, a recent flu… He himself had pointed out in the hours before the start of the tournament that his roadmap was to hold on this Thursday and finish around the middle of the table. Well, he is fifth after handing in a scorecard of 68 strokes, fresh as a lettuce. And he is only three strokes off the lead with 54 holes to play. It may be that emotions or lack of energy show up later, it should not be ruled out, but there we already have the titan. It’s not just any threat for the rest. It wouldn’t be anywhere and almost under any circumstances, but much less at the Club de Campo de Madrid. Here, Jon is a little more intimidating, if possible.
The fight promises to be fierce. The aforementioned Pavon has also started not bad at all with his round under par (70). Sepp Straka (-4) and Tommy Fleetwood (-2) will not give up easily, Matt Wallace (-1) is also in the group of red numbers. And tomorrow Friday others could be added, of course, in the same way that some will fall from among the audacious who have won the game to the field today. Ángel Hidalgo would love to play on Saturday alongside Jon Rahm, which he has never done. How about in the star match?
