European Tour: Mutuactivos Open de España Preview
By Matt Coles
After two weeks on British shores, the European Tour moves back to mainland Europe for the Mutuactivos Open de España in Madrid.
The event has been moved back to an October slot, after spending the majority of its years being played in the month of May. Apart from 2017, the Open de España has been an ever-present on the calendar since the inception of the European Tour in 1972.
This year’s tournament will be played at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, which holds two championship golf courses. It will be the Javier Arana designed Black course that will be used for the tournament, a par-71 challenge for the players.
The second course at Club de Campo was designed by Severiano Ballesteros, the only three-time winner of the Open de España in the European Tour era. Dale Hayes, Eddie Pollard, Bernhard Langer, and Mark James have all won the event twice, while there have been no multiple winners of the event in the 21st Century.
More from Pro Golf Now
- Golf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning deal
- Fantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player Selections
- Brutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024
- Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at Concession
- Fantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament
The reigning Open de España champion is home favourite, and World No.5, Jon Rahm. He won last year’s event by two strokes with a score of -20 (268), and the Spaniard will be looking to become the first person in the European Tour era to win back-to-back titles.
Fellow Spaniards to have won the event in the 21st Century include Sergio Garcia, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Alvaro Quiros. They all feature again this week, with the latter two partnered together for the first two rounds of the week, alongside American Julian Suri.
Garcia will play alongside compatriot Jorge Campillo and Chinese No.1 Haotong Li, while Rahm features in an all-Spanish trio on the first two days, with Rafa Cabrera Bello, and Adri Arnaus playing alongside the three-times Rolex Series event champion.
138 players are in the field for this week’s Open de España, which features a two-tee start on Thursday and Friday. Marcel Siem, Lasse Jensen, and Alvaro Velasco get things started from the 1st, while Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, Tom Murray and Nick Cullen start from the 10th, with play scheduled to start at 08:40 local time (GMT+2).
What about the potential winners, though? Rahm is the highest-ranked golfer in this week’s field, and he will be looking to defend his crown come Sunday afternoon. He will also have the home crowd right behind him as he aims to do just that. Come Sunday, that could make all the difference.
Korean Tour: Kim Bi-o Suspended Three Years for Obscene Gesture. dark. Next
Selected Tee Times (* = 10th tee start):
- 09:20* & 13:50: Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Andrea Pavan (ITA)
- 09:30* & 14:00: Jon Rahm (ESP), Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP), Adri Arnaus (ESP)
- 13:50 & 09:10*: Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Julian Suri (USA), Alvaro Quiros (ESP)
- 14:00 & 09:20*: Jorge Campillo (ESP), Haotong Li (CHN), Sergio Garcia (ESP)
- 14:10 & 09:30*: Ross Fisher (ENG), Adrian Otaegui (ESP), David Lipsky (USA)