Angel Hidalgo has arrived late to Royal Troon. At least, later than he had planned and would have liked. These are things that happen when you play well. He had booked a flight from Kentucky, where he was playing the ISCO Championship, for Sunday afternoon. Thus, he would arrive in Scotland on Monday, perfect to prepare for the Open. However, his great performance in the hybrid tournament of the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour made him miss that flight. Conclusion: he has not appeared in Troon until three in the afternoon, after a whole day without sleep and with a curious jet lag.
The Malaga native has not wasted time. He has eaten, hit some balls on the practice field and went straight to play nine holes, from 10 to 18 of Troon, the most complicated this Tuesday with the north wind. Well, on the fifth hole of the day, the 14, par 3, the bombshell. He has 183 meters to the flag and hits an excellent 4 iron. It’s so good that when he sees it in the air, he says out loud: “I bet I get it in…”.
It was six thirty in the afternoon in Scotland. Late. There were no longer any players on the field except for the Andalusian, but the public in these parts is top-notch and there were still about 20 fans on that green. The ball lands on the green and the madness breaks out. Shouts, applause and cheers. From the tee you couldn’t see the hole, but there was no doubt that he had made it.
Pim, pam. Fifth hole of his life in an Open, let’s not forget that he is a debutant, and hole in one. “It was a very good shot, with a tail of draw… and for me to hit a good shot with draw, there is something special. The last thing I did in Scotland was to get it from the street in the previous to qualify and now I make a hole in one as soon as I arrive… Not bad”, he assures to TenGolf.
Hidalgo is superstitious. He doesn’t hide it. But he doesn’t quite know how to interpret this wink from fate. “It’s the first time this has happened to me, so I still don’t know if it’s good or bad. In any case, nobody can take this away from me”, he says.
Angel is good with holes in one. He claims he hasn’t counted them, but estimates there have been ten or eleven in his career. However, he has never done it in a tournament or in a practice round. He already takes that from his first Open Championship. The first big roar of Troon bears his name. Almost nothing.
Here we leave you the sequence of the shot and then picking up the ball from the hole, recorded by his coach Jordi García del Moral:
