'Quite humbling' - Jon Rahm blitzes field to equal Seve Ballesteros with third victory at Open de Espana
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Updated 09/10/2022 at 18:27 GMT
The Open de Espana concluded at Club de Campo in Madrid on Sunday. Jon Rahm arrived at the event as the overwhelming favourite to take the title for a third time. There was pressure on his shoulders as a win would take him level with his legendary compatriot Seve Ballesteros on three victories at his home open. Rahm did not falter and secured the win in front of a packed crowd.
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Jon Rahm arrived in Madrid with the sole aim of matching Seve Ballesteros and winning the Open de Espana for a third time, and he did exactly that with a blistering display on Sunday to take the title.
In the lead-up to to the event, the 2021 US Open champion piled the pressure on his shoulders by speaking so openly about his desire to match one of the greats of the game at his home open.
But Rahm has achieved success in the white-hot atmosphere of major championships, and he never faltered despite being asked probing questions by Min Woo Lee.
The lead was one shot at the start of the day and despite the best efforts of Lee, the Australian could not get any closer and succumbed to the relentless pressure as Rahm secured the win by six shots after a closing round of 62.
"You might need to ask me in a few days as I will take quite a while to process this thing,” Rahm said when asked what it felt like to draw level with Ballesteros. "It was the goal coming in.
"Seve is a great hero of mine and to do something it took him his whole career to do in just a few years is quite humbling.
"I understand it might not be the strongest field I play all year, but sometimes that is the hardest to win. I am at home, I am supposed to win, everybody is betting on me to win, so to come out and play a Sunday like this is hard to describe.
"My lowest round out here, my lowest score out here. It was pretty much a perfect week.”
Final Leaderboard
- 1. Jon Rahm, -25
- 2. Matthieu Pavon, -19
- 3. Min Woo Lee, -18
- T4. Zander Lombard, -16
- T4. Edoardo Molinari, -16
- T6. Louis De Jager, -15
- T6. Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, -15
- T8. Darius van Driel, -14
- T8. Hennie Du Plessis, -14
- T8. Yannik Paul, -14
- T8. Kiradech Aphibarnrat, -14
- T8. Marc Warren, -14
Rahm hit a superb opening tee shot, but followed it with a wayward approach to the first which went into the rough behind the green. He looked in trouble after a poor chip, but steadied the nerves with an 18-foot putt for a par.
His approach at the first may have been a shocker, but the one at the second was a thing of beauty, as it flew directly over the flag, landed 10 feet from the hole and drew back to a couple of inches for a tap-in birdie.
Rahm’s iron play was awry on three and four, but his scrambling skills got him out of trouble on both occasions - and he found himself two to the good after Lee made a complete mess of the par-five and carded a bogey on one of the easier holes on the course.
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The world No. 6 was frustrated with his form on Friday, and an expletive passed his lips after a poor approach to the sixth green.
He trudged to the green with a face like thunder and was in three-putt territory, but he walked off with a beaming smile after rolling in a monster putt - to the delight of the big crowd at Club de Campo in Madrid.
It was another ship-steadier, but Lee kept him honest with a birdie-eagle blitz on six and seven to cut the gap to one.
But for all the pressure exerted by Lee, Rahm never looked ruffled and a brilliant tee shot and excellent birdie putt on the ninth took him to the turn with a two-stroke cushion.
Rahm did his scoring on the back nine over the first three days, and another stunning birdie putt from long range on 11 opened up a three-stroke advantage.
A moment of alarm came on 12 as Rahm leaked his tee shot way to the left and found himself hampered by a tree. Rather than go for a glory shot and compound the error, he took his medicine, chipped out and accepted a bogey.
Rahm showed the bogey did not deter him, as he split the fairway on the 13th, arrowed an approach to 10 feet and rolled in the birdie to re-establish a three-shot lead.
Albatrosses are rare beasts in golf, and Rahm went within a whisker of one on the 14th as his second shot on the par-five hit the flag.
The eagle putt proved a formality, and the crowd - and in all likelihood his playing partners Lee and Louis De Jager - were in awe as Rahm extended his lead to six shots with golf out of the top drawer.
Rahm said after establishing a lead on Saturday that his aim was to be in a position to enjoy the walk up 18.
There were no alarms on 15, 16 and 17, allowing Rahm the chance to savour the atmosphere of being a three-time winner of the Open de Espana and drawing level with greatness.
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