Jon Rahm defeated by the 398th player in the world in a David-vs.-Goliath playoff

Jon Rahm is a living legend at the Open de Espana, where this week he was seeking his fourth career title at his home country’s national championship.

At the end of Sunday’s final round, it looked like Rahm might do just that, when he birdied his final two holes at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid to reach the playoff.

But another Spaniard finally stole Rahm’s thunder. After missing a 4-footer on the 72nd hole, unheralded 26-year-old Angel Hidalgo birdied double-bogey in a playoff against Rahm to claim the win – his first in DP World Tour.

“I was pretty relaxed all day, even the first tee, I don’t know why,” Hidalgo, who entered the week ranked 398th in the world. he said after the round. “Even when I missed the short putt (at the start) — or this one, the 72nd hole — I wasn’t discouraged.”

Hidalgo’s David-defeats-Goliath victory put a cap on an amazing climb. Just a few years ago, Hidalgo, a two-time Spanish amateur champion and former Alps and Challenge Tour player, was on the field for the Open de Espana – but not as a player, as a fan.

“Two or three years ago, I was on this very course, the first team, in the trees, supporting Jon – not playing, just coming here to Madrid to watch the tournament,” he said. “To be here and win the tournament is unreal.”

Hildago shot rounds of 65-67-68-70 to score the victory. However, he wasn’t convinced it would happen halfway through the final round.

“In the 8th game, I thought David Puig (another Spaniard) was going to win the tournament with eight because he was hitting amazingly, and Jon and I made some mistakes,” he said.

Winning a National Open on home soil for your maiden title is pretty tough, but taking down Rahm made it all the more special for Hidalgo.

“He is the most important player in the last 20 years or 30 years in Spain,” he said. “So that’s an extra point.”

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As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural women’s varsity player class, Jessica can blow away anyone in the masthead. She can also drive them in the office, where she is primarily responsible for producing print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her series The original interview, “A Round With,” debuted in November 2015 and appeared in both magazine and video form on GOLF.com.