Jon Rahm made the most of his latest trip home to his native Spain, winning the DP World Tour’s acciona Open de España presented by Madrid.
The 27-year-old Rahm grew up in the Basque coastal town of Barrika, population 1,500, and fairly or not, he’s been compared to the great Spanish golfers who came before him since his teens: Seve Ballesteros, Jose-Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia. He met the legendary Ballesteros at a prize-giving ceremony when he was around 12, four years before the shot-making maestro’s passing. Olazabal happened to be there, too. Rahm shook his hand but caught up in the moment, he nearly missed that of Ballesteros.
“My dad almost had a heart attack,” Rahm recalled. “I have that memory. I never got to meet him again, never got to speak to him again.”
With a sizzling final-round 62, Rahm lapped the field by six strokes to claim his third national open title, equaling the haul of Ballesteros in his home Open. Following in Seve’s footsteps, Rahm collected the trophy at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, where Ballesteros claimed his third Spanish Open victory in 1995, and his 50th and final DP World Tour victory.
“You know, Seve is a great hero of mine and to do something he took his whole career to do in just a few years is quite humbling, I’m not going to lie. It might not be the strongest field I play all year but sometimes this could be the hardest to win, right?” Rahm said. “When I’m at home, I’m supposed to win, everybody is betting on me to win and to come out and play a Sunday like I just did it’s hard to describe. It was my lowest round, my lowest score out here, it was pretty much a perfect week.”
It’s a pleasure to watch @JonRahmpga when he’s firing on all cylinders, but this win will further help encourage a new generation of Spanish golfers into our beautiful game. Vamos Rahmbo 👊🏼🏆
— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) October 9, 2022
In addition, Rahm, who won this tournament in 2018 and 2019 when he won by five strokes, became the first player since Max Faulkner (1953 and 1957) to win the Spanish Open by five or more strokes more than once. Rahm also became the second fastest Spanish player to win eight titles on the DP World Tour – in just 62 appearances – only one event more than Ballesteros, who captained Europe to victory at the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama in Spain.
“I’ve spoken many times about how that 1997 Ryder Cup and Seve making the win that week, some friends of my dad’s started me playing golf otherwise who knows what else I’d be. I’m here because of that alone, and everything else is down to the path that he’s paved for so many of us,” Rahm said. “Not only him but Olly (Jose Maria Olazabal) after him and then Sergio (Garcia). I mean Sergio has been instrumental as well, somebody that carried records after them for so long. You know it’s not only for me but it’s also for them and hopefully the many who come.”
Rahm’s 9-under 62 gave him a 72-hole total of 25-under 259, six strokes better than France’s Matthieu Pavon. With four birdies on the front nine, including a 13-foot birdie putt on the par-3 9th hole, Rahm built a two-shot lead. An eagle on the par-5, 14th hole, followed by two back-to-back birdies at the end of his round solidified his first DP World Tour title since winning his maiden major at the 2021 U.S. Open. He also bested Seve’s lowest scoring record on the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid Black course.
“To feel the support from the crowd on that 18th hole is hard to believe,” Rahm added. “I know it’s supposed to help but in golf and in individual sports sometimes that crowd can get in your head and it’s something that is hard to get used to. I’m proud I was able to do what I did. Truthfully, moments like this, pressure packed moments, make it better. Pressure makes diamonds, sometimes you get a diamond like this one.”
