Ángel Hidalgo, the emotional giant-killing champion and a first-time winner on the DP World Tour, won’t care, but the result in the 2024 Open de España was always going to be secondary to off-the-course issues last week in Madrid, Spain.
Chief among those was the mere presence in the field of the Spanish countryman whom Hidalgo defeated in a playoff, the pre-tournament hot favorite Jon Rahm. The messiness surrounding Rahm’s involvement, alongside that of LIV Golf Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton, being the latest episode in the sport’s ongoing quest to rewrite the old adage as “it doesn’t matter who wins; the real loser is golf.”
Earlier this month, Rahm said he had no intention of paying fines related to his LIV defection in order to play the three events he needs to retain his DP World Tour membership at the end of this season. Instead, he opted to join Hatton in appealing the sanctions, a legal route which permitted him to tee it up in Madrid last week. Also, because no decision is expected to be announced for at least 12 months, he could be eligible to compete for Europe in the Ryder Cup at New York’s Bethpage Black in September 2025.
Not so much Rahmbo but more a case of convenient limbo.
One week earlier during the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in England, Shane Lowry, who along with Tommy Fleetwood and a phalanx of other European Ryder Cup hopefuls boosted the quality of the field in Spain, told Denis Kirwan of Ireland’s Meridian Media: “I was very happy to see Jon do what he did. I feel like we need him [in the next Ryder Cup]. I’m looking forward to seeing him [in Madrid] and haven’t seen Tyrrell in a while. I’m very good friends with Tyrrell, so I’m sure we will have dinner and catch up.”
Lawyers’ bills, realpolitik and fractured relationships: It’s the new normal for elite golf, and yet another recent European Ryder Cup performer is feeling on the wrong end of it.
Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger was among the original LIV rebels and is now back on the DP World Tour. He’s ambiguous about the legal subterfuge, however.
“This ‘going around corners,’ I don’t really like it, but I like that we have the best players possible playing our tournaments,” he told reporters two weeks earlier at the Irish Open, when asked about the field in Spain. “It’s a little bit of a conundrum in that sense for me. It opens a lot of, I’m not saying loopholes, but a lot of question marks.”
Rahm, who on top of everything else had to delay his arrival at Club de Campo Villa Madrid in order to attend the birth of his third child, spoke to the Spanish media after his first round. As solid as his 68 was, it was not exactly the main focus of attention.
“With the gossip and rumors that have (been) circulating over the last few weeks, it seems there has been a big step forward made,” he said when asked about the chances of future détente between LIV and the traditional tours. “I’m optimistic. I really am.
“This is where I see the future of men’s professional golf heading. There will not be a merger or a unified world tour. Things will carry on as they are, but players will be allowed free movement as they used to be. Let the players choose where they want to play.”
Conjecture hasn’t gotten golf very far in the last three years, but there seems to be no end to the production of it.
Just to complete the sense of off-the-course mystery and supposition, Ten-golf also reported that LIV CEO Greg Norman was present to support his players and negotiate a Madrid venue for LIV’s Spanish tournament. It has thus far been hosted by Valderrama in Sotogrande on Spain’s southern coast.
It’s a pity that all the shenanigans overshadowed such a thrilling finale to the tournament. Hidalgo had entered the final round with a two-shot lead over Rahm and had overcome early Sunday nerves to maintain that advantage deep into the back nine, helped by a clumsy double bogey from Rahm at the par-4 13th.
“Two or three years ago, I was here on the first tee supporting Jon. I wasn’t playing. I just came here to see the tournament. To be here now and win the tournament is unreal. Oh, my gosh, it’s amazing.”
Ángel Hidalgo
Rahm is an exceptionally fine golfer and a fierce competitor, but he is also human. Childbirth, jet lag, controversy and all the questions surely must have affected his performance, but he recovered brilliantly with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18 to tie his playing competitor Hidalgo’s 14-under total of 270.
Rahm finally ran out of gas in extra holes. The pair exchanged birdies the first time they replayed the drivable par-4 18th, but only Hidalgo could repeat the trick at the second time of asking.
Another Spaniard from LIV Golf, David Puig, shared third place with American Sean Crocker, England’s Tommy Fleetwood and three others.
The 26-year-old Hidalgo, who earned about $553,000 from the $3.25 million prize fund, had tasted victory on the Challenge Tour in 2021 but had only seven top 10s on the DP World Tour without finishing in the top three before last week. To have broken that duck by denying Rahm a record fourth victory in their national championship is a significant feat. He was naturally delighted after being engulfed by his friends and fellow countrymen.
“Two or three years ago, I was here on the first tee supporting Jon,” he said afterward. “I wasn’t playing. I just came here to see the tournament. To be here now and win the tournament is unreal. Oh, my gosh, it’s amazing.”
LIV Golf has always insisted that golf fans demand to see “the best playing the best,” and it has become something of a mantra among all golfing executives. The PGA Tour’s signature events have aped the notion, and DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings used it during the previous week when talking to the media at Wentworth.
Hidalgo’s success was a reminder that there is far more to the sport than Goliath versus Goliath. David and his sling have their place. The best being bested still works. Sometimes, it is better.
Matt Cooper