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Open de España Top 10 Players Power Rankings

By Elizabeth Bethel

SOTOGRANDE, SPAIN - OCTOBER 31: Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain plays from the trees on the 8th during the final round of the Andalucia Valderrama Masters at Club de Golf Valderrama on October 31, 2010 in Sotogrande, Spain. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
SOTOGRANDE, SPAIN - OCTOBER 31: Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain plays from the trees on the 8th during the final round of the Andalucia Valderrama Masters at Club de Golf Valderrama on October 31, 2010 in Sotogrande, Spain. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) /
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Open de España
ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS – SEPTEMBER 10: James Morrison of England hits his second shot on the 9th hole during Day 1 of the KLM Open held at Kennemer G /

Ten players poised to challenge James Morrison for the Open de España title this week –

Open de España hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation is one of the oldest national Opens in Continental Europe. The 90th edition will be contended at the iconic Real Club Valderrama, home of the 1997 Ryder Cup, the Volvo Masters, the AMEX World Championship, and the Andalucia Masters.

Valderrama inspires, has challenged, and has been conquered by the best in the sport: Seve Ballesteros, Justin Rose, Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Nick Faldo, Lee Westwood. Tiger played his first Ryder Cup at Valderrama (although the Americans lost by a single point that year).

Open de España – A Bit of a History

The first edition of the tournament was held in 1912, 21 years after the creation of the first Spanish golf club, Real Club de Golf de Las Palmas (1891) and coincides with the emergence of professional golf in Spain. French professional golfer, Claude Gassiat, who had started his golfing career as a caddie, set up the Golf de Las Palmas caddie program and that led to the emergence of the first Spanish professionals: Ángel de la Torre – who turned pro at the age of 14 – Emilio Cayarga (a.k.a. “el Hojalata”), Saturnino Lascós and Joaquín Bernardino.

The development of this first group of professionals brought about the holding of the Open de España, in line with other national Opens in Continental Europe – France (1906), Belgium (1910) and Holland (1912). The inaugural Open de España was a 72-hole event played over two days and won by the 1907 British Open Champion, Frenchman Arnaud Massy.

Over the years Arnold Palmer (1975) has won the Open de España, as has Sir Nick Faldo (1987). The man still making his presence felt on golf’s big stage, Bernhard Langer (1984) has held the Open de España title and Sergio Garcia claimed the best amateur honors three years running (1996-1998).

Defending champion, James Morrison, will face challenges from a field that’s peppered with power. With only one top 20 in his last six starts, Morrison will be pressed to repeat his 2015 performance as he faces a field of players much more likely to claim victory this year.

Let’s take a look at the most likely among the field to conquer Valderrama this year.

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