DP World Tour : Spanish Open Leaderboard
Angel Hidalgo delighted the home fans with a -6 65 for a two-shot first-round lead at the 2024 acciona Open de España presented by Madrid.
On an otherwise tough day of scoring at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, the big-hitting Hidalgo demolished the front nine in just 30 strokes and maintained his score despite a late wobble.
His nearest challengers were Julien Guerrier, Sepp Straka and Sam Bairstow after rounds of -4 67, with three-time champion Jon Rahm in the group a further shot back -3 68
"I played really, really good today. It's a long time since I stroked the putts as well as today. Unlucky the last few shots, two bad swings with the irons, but pretty happy and looking forward the next three days.
"I holed an important (par) putt on number six, I think that was the key for the next three birdies - this course has this type of stretch that you can make a few birdies in a row."
"It's different (playing at home), I'm not going to lie. You feel the love, you feel the support. Yeah, it's incredible playing at home, and I wish that we could play more tournaments here."
Guerrier, who tied for sixth at this tournament last year, had set the earlier target with a battling 67 built around an eagle at the seventh and three birdies in four holes after the turn.
Straka went out in 33 with birdies at the fifth, seventh and ninth and responded to two bogeys straight after the turn with three more birdies.
Englishman Bairstow joined the group with a closing birdie, his fourth of the day in a round also featuring an eagle and two bogeys.
Rahm - winner of his home Open in 2018, 2019 and 2022, the latter two at this venue - sandwiched birdies at the fourth, eighth and 13th with bogeys at the third and 16th.
Rahm was alongside compatriot Adri Arnaus and China's Ashun Wu at -3.
Two more Spaniards, amateur Luis Masaveu and Rahm's Olympic team-mate David Puig, were at two under alongside England's Tommy Fleetwood and Sam Jones of New Zealand.
Defending champion Mathieu Pavon was in a large group at -1 70
edit*** Canadian Aaron Cockerill had a solid T12, -1 70 start to his week
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
No comments:
Post a Comment