Jon Rahm Retains Open de Espana Title After Dominant Display

Home favourite Jon Rahm became the first man in the European Tour era to retain the Open de Espana title after a dominant display in Madrid this week.

Jon Rahm came into the final day of the week with a five-shot lead after a spectacular 63 on Saturday set him on his way to a fifth European Tour title.

The World No.5 finished the job off on Sunday with another exquisite round to finish the tournament at -22. He only had a single bogey on Sunday, with that coming at the par-3 17th after the job had already been done.

The Spaniard came down the 72nd hole of the week at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid with a six-shot lead, and he almost finished in style with this chip and run on the 18th green.

https://twitter.com/EuropeanTour/status/1180870681866711041

In winning the title, he has become the first man in the European Tour era to defend his Open de Espana title, with Max Faulkner being the last man to do so, back in 1952 and 1953.

Jon Rahm also became the quickest Spaniard to reach five European Tour victories, having done so in just his 39th event, ten less than the legendary Seve Ballesteros managed to reach five wins in.

It was a good week for Spain on the whole, with the home nation having five golfers inside the top ten, and the three that led the way to start the final day all finished in the top three positions.

Thanks to a late charge of five birdies in his final six holes, Rafa Cabrera Bello took second place at -17, while Samuel del Val, the World No.1413 coming into the week, finished in third, a further two shots back.

Del Val makes a huge jump up the Official World Golf Rankings after his performance at home this week, moving inside the top 700 in the world.

Adri Arnaus was among those in a tie for fourth to add to the Spanish contingent at the top of the leaderboard. He finished the week at -13 alongside the Danish duo of Jeff Winther and Joachim Hansen.

Sergio Garcia made it five Spaniards inside the top ten after his final round of 65 shot him up the leaderboard following his 69-69-69 start to the week.

The former Master Champion finished the event in a tie for 7th, alongside the South African duo of Zander Lombard and Justin Harding, Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura and Aussie Jason Scrivener.

European Tour winners Andrea Pavan, Nicolas Colsaerts and Ross Fisher all finished inside the top 25, as did Edoardo Molinari, thanks to this slam-dunk eagle two on the 18th on Sunday afternoon.

https://twitter.com/EuropeanTour/status/1180845893534261249

Miguel Angel Jimenez finished the week in a tie for 33rd at -6, while Sihwan Kim came home a further shot back as the leading American at the Club de Campo Villa this week,

The likes of Andres Romero, Bernd Ritthammer, and David Lipsky were also among the 60 players who finished under par for the week. Kristian Krogh Johannessen was another of those, but the Norwegian could only manage a T-51st finish, despite leading the event after an opening day 63.

The European Tour moves across to Italy for its next event, the fifth on the 2019 Rolex Series calendar. The Italian Open will take place at Olgiata Golf Club in Rome, and will start on Thursday morning, with home favourite Francesco Molinari looking for his third title on home soil.

Notables from Leaderboard:

• 1 (-22): Jon Rahm (ESP)
• 2 (-17): Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
• 3 (-15): Samuel del Val (ESP)
• T7 (-12): Sergio Garcia (ESP), Masahiro Kawamura (JPN), Justin Harding (RSA), Jason Scrivener (AUS), Zander Lombard (RSA)
• T17 (-9): Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Nick McCarthy (ENG), Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Ross Fisher (ENG), Calum Hill (ENG)
• T33 (-6): Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Pedro Figueiredo (POR), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Rikard Karlberg (SWE)