Incredible scenes on the ninth hole of Dundonald when ngel Hidalgo holes his second shot from 120 yards (109 meters)." The same 'X' account of the tournament reproduced in this way the phrase with which the commentator of the official radio of the British Open narrated the feat of the Malaga native.
ngel Hidalgo will therefore play the first major of his life from July 18 to 21 at Royal Troon.
Angel Hidalgo, results
The Marbella native won one of the four places that were distributed in the qualifying tournament that has just concluded at Dundonald Links, also in Troon, just 10 minutes by car from the route where the last major event of the season will be held.
Wonderful finish for the 26-year-old Spanish golfer, well known to all those who follow the DP World Tour. After 35 holes played (the 'qualifying' is 18 holes in the morning and 18 in the afternoon), he needed a birdie to at least enter a hypothetical playoff but, with a wedge in his hands, he hit the ball so well that He ended up scoring from more than 100 meters.
Hidalgo scored 70 in the morning and 69 in the afternoon to occupy the second shared spot. ngel, who still eludes victory in the DPWT, but who in 2021 won the Challenge Tour and Asian Tour (2), will fulfill his dream of fighting for the only major tournament held on the Old Continent.
ngel told us what happened as soon as it finished. These were his words: "It has been incredible, the truth is that I have played very well all day. The course was quite difficult and I had never played it, so very difficult.
On the 8th hole [his penultimate of the day] I hit a very good putt of about eight meters for par and still have options. If I missed, I lost all options. And on the last hole I hit a good drive to the fairway and it was a perfect distance.
On the day the ball was the perfect distance from one club. I didn't have to swing 3/4. It was 99 meters and I hit 98 with the 56th, so I saw the ball half bounce. and people have started jumping on the green. It has been incredible, surreal." ngel Hidalgo joins Jon Rahm, Jorge Campillo and David Puig, who were already classified.
However, the man from Malaga was not the only Spaniard classified in the previous rounds. Huge surprise for the amateur Jaime Montojo Fernndez, currently at Texas A&M University, who has achieved a place after being second -shared- in Royal Cinque Ports.
He made 71 + 70. Luis Masaveu, also an amateur, played in a playoff for his place in what will be his first big one. He made a long-distance putt to earn his ticket in style.
