Arguably, Jon Rahm is the best Spanish player of today’s era. Not even Sergio Garcia could attain two major titles, but Rahm already has two. Rahm’s move to LIV Golf was criticized, sure, as many doubted his form was dwindling there. The 2-time major winner proved his critics wrong; he won two events as much as Bryson DeChambeau won in three years on LIV and was inside the top 10 at all the events, winning the Individual Championship title too. With such a golf career, who wouldn’t be inspired by Rahm? Right? Well, Ángel Hidalgo sure sees him as his idol.

Rahm and Hidalgo come from two opposite sides of Spain. Hidalgo was born in Marbella, a small municipality in Costa del Sol, Andalusia, while Rahm is from the southern area of Basque. The LIV golfer is only three years older than Hidalgo. They share the same passion for golf but are not related to each other. However, there is a special bond between them.

The El Pais reported that in 2023, Hidalgo made his dream trip to Georgia to experience the men’s first major for the first time at the Augusta National. The trip became more memorable for the 26-year-old as he watched his idol, Rahm donning the green jacket and representing Spanish golf on such a large scale. What was more special was the 2-time major winner signing the traditional yellow Masters flag.

As a souvenir from his first trip to Augusta National, Hidalgo always keeps the flag close to him in his room. Moreover, one and a half years later, Hidalgo found himself in the same group as Rahm at the Open de Espana, as both contended in their home country. It could surely be regarded as a full-circle moment for Hidalgo.

Undoubtedly, both golfers want to represent their country and grow Spanish golf to another level. While Rahm has done it in the past years on the PGA Tour and now on LIV Golf, Hidalgo is just making moves as he made his DP World Tour debut in 2022 and is yet to win a tournament.

Hidalgo seeks inspiration from Rahm as no one from Spain has achieved as much success as him in the last decade. The 26-year-old gets to one-up his idol in a particular event that Rahm has never won in his life.

Angel Hidalgo has surpassed Jon Rahm

Unlike Angel Hidalgo, Jon Rahm had moved to America early in his amateur career and was admitted to Arizona State University. And probably because of that reason, Rahm never won the national amateur title of his country.

On the other hand, Hidalgo was one of the best junior golfers, and he won the Spanish Amateur title two times in his life in 2016 and 2018. However, as an amateur, Hidalgo also had the ambition of making it to the PGA Tour. At the budding age of 18, Hidalgo was asked if, in five years, he saw himself playing on the US Tour. The then-amateur golfer optimistically replied, “Well, God willing.”

Unfortunately, his transition from Spain to America is yet to be made, but with the way Hidalgo has approached his game and slowly moving toward the higher ranks, it would not be surprising to find him on the PGA Tour and winning tournaments that he always watched growing up.