Angel Hidalgo sealed his place at The 155th Open Championship at St Andrews with a second-placed finish at the 2026 FedEx Open de France.
This week's event at Le Golf National is the first in The Open Qualifying Series, which continues at next month's Open de España presented by Madrid - with one place again available - and runs until July.
Hidalgo finished three strokes behind champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who had already secured his Open place, meaning the Spaniard will tee it up at the Home of Golf next year.
Three birdies in the last five holes ensured he emerged from the pack to seal his place ahead of compatriot Eugenio Chacarra and French pair Tom Vaillant and Matthieu Pavon, who shared third place on Sunday with Norway's already-qualified Kristoffer Reitan.
"Pretty cool, huh?" was Hidalgo's immediate reaction while looking at the Open Championship 18th hole flag presented to mark his achievement.
Angel Hidalgo has booked himself a place for The 155th Open Championship at St. Andrews! 👏
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 27, 2026
The Spaniard claimed the spot on offer for the highest finisher in this week's field, who was not already exempt.#FedExOpenDeFrance pic.twitter.com/k3KQuYo7TR
Hidalgo birdied the sixth after an approach to three feet, though his title challenge in France never took shape with a front nine otherwise consisting of pars followed by a dropped shot at the tenth.
He responded with a birdie at the next though, and as Fitzpatrick eventually closed the door on the chasing pack it became a question of who would win the Open place.
Back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th kept Hidalgo in contention, particularly once Chacarra found water at the 13th and bogeyed the 15th, and after a stunning approach to the last he let out a sigh of satisfaction knowing the job was all but done.
He said: "It's the first year I go directly to the Open, so that's pretty cool. So, yeah, super excited and can't wait.
"It's one of the most special tournaments in golf, especially in golf history. All the greatest won that tournament. So, yeah, it's pretty special, and especially in the Home of Golf."
The Spaniard has enjoyed a productive period on the Back 9, with this his second top-five after finishing tied fourth at the Omega European Masters earlier this month.
Having been 109th in the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World at the end of the Closing Swing in August, he is now up to 34th and will hope to continue his form on home soil at the Open de España presented by Madrid next week.
