Angel Hidalgo will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the acciona Open de España presented by Madrid as he produced a 68 on Day Three at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
Related: Angel Hidalgo goes on the overdrive in Spain
The home favourite has led the way since carding an opening 65 in the Spanish capital and produced a confident display of front-running to get to 13 under after 54 holes.
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Hidalgo is still looking for a maiden win on the DP World Tour and will be paired in an all-Spanish final group tomorrow alongside two-time Major champion Jon Rahm and compatriot David Puig.
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Rahm, a three-time winner of his national open in 2018, 2019 and 2022, played much of the round without his damaged driver but birdied two of the last three holes to reach 11 under, with Puig a further shot back as both carded 65s.
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The 29-year-old equalled the late, great Seve Ballesteros’ record of three Open de España titles with his victory at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in 2022, the same venue of Ballesteros’ 50th and final European Tour (now DP World Tour) win, and will once again have another shot at history in front of the adoring Spanish crowds tomorrow in Madrid.
Player quotes
Angel Hidalgo: Well, first it was tough. Definitely when I heard my name again, I thought it was a few more crowd. I was a little bit nervous and I didn’t hit my best driver. But that chip gave me a lot of confidence.
I played good. I missed a few shots to the right yesterday. I felt my clubs was heavy today. But it’s true, after the short putt I missed on 12, I played great golf, I think. Three-under in the back part of the course is pretty good. I’m pretty happy.
Sounds pretty good. The match will be really good. I know really good David. I played with him when I was young. Yeah, with Jon, what can I say? He’s the G.O.A.T. in this tournament. I don’t know how many times he won, like three times or four times, I don’t know. Yeah, pretty happy. I can’t wait to arrive to the first tee tomorrow.
Jon Rahm: Overall, very good day. I felt good with pretty much everything. Felt better than any other day. Felt stronger. Unfortunate situation over there on the sixth tee to have to — to not be able to go over the creek on that hole, was going to be pretty easy today, and to have to play seven into the wind with 3-wood.
And then after that, it didn’t really affect me too much. Maybe a couple longer irons coming into some par fours. But at the end of the day on this course, if you put it in the fairway, you’re always going to be better than hitting the driver off line. Did a pretty good job mitigating that.
But I was happy to get the driver as quickly back as I did. I just assumed I was going to play the rest of the round without it. I was happy to hear the news on 12 that I was going to have it by 14. I think it might have been what — I don’t know, just a little moment of happiness that gave me a little boost for the rest of the round.
I’m very excited. I have yet to be paired with them in any tour in any tournament. We play a lot at home and it just hasn’t happened yet. I’m glad that our first time is going to be here in the final round and final group.
I don’t know what Angel is doing now on 18. With how 18 is playing now, possibly two or three back, which is not a massive difference on this golf course. I’m excited to see him in action. He’s a very high-quality player and I’m excited to see Angel, as well. He’s been playing really good the last few years.
And hopefully I can end up with the win but it’s definitely going to be a Sunday atmosphere-wise that they haven’t experienced yet. There’s going to be a lot of people watching, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.
