Rahm matches Seve with third Spanish Open win
Jon Rahm. Picture: Getty Images
Jon Rahm matched his great hero Seve Ballesteros when he captured his third acciona Open de España win in just his fourth appearance.
The world number six (27) closed with a career-low, nine-under 62 to win by six shots from Frenchman Matthieu Pavon on 25-under par at the venue where Ballesteros claimed his third Open de España victory in 1995 and his 50th and final European Tour triumph.
While Ballesteros left five Ryder Cup players in his wake in 1995, just one other player from the world's top 50, Tommy Fleetwood (tied 39th), was in Madrid last week.
"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," Rahm said after notching his eighth DP World Tour win in his 62nd start. "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? 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."
One clear of Lee after 54 holes, Rahm made a critical 13-footer for birdie at the ninth to turn in four-under 32 before easing clear of his challengers with a blistering back nine of 30.
He earned €297,500 for the win as compatriot Eugenio Chacarra (22) pocketed $4 million for the individual win and another $750,000 for his share of the team win at the LIV Golf Invitational in Bangkok.
Chacarra, who was making just his fifth start as a professional, has now earned more than Ballesteros won in his entire European Tour career — $5.65 m to €5.06m ($4.92m).
Greystones' Paul Dunne closed with a 70 in Madrid to tie for 47th on five-under-par in Madrid and will now have to get ready for Q-School.
The exempt Jonathan Caldwell was joint 57th on three-under thanks to a bogey-free 67, but Q-School may also beckon for Niall Kearney, whose 75 left him 64th on two-over.
On the Challenge Tour, Conor Purcell shot 74 to tie for ninth in the British Challenge at St Mellion on three-under, five shots behind Scotland's Euan Walker with Tom McKibbin tied for 43rd on three-over after a 71.
McKibbin remains 15th in the race for 20 DP World Tour cards, with John Murphy 42nd and Ruaidhri McGee 46th heading to this week's penultimate English Trophy.
Purcell moves up 11 spots to 64th in the Road to Mallorca ranking, with the top 45 who qualify for the Challenge Tour Grand Final also exempt into the Final Stage of Q-School.
Naas' Jonny Yates won Saturday's Alps Tour Grand Final by two shots (€10,000) to finish 10th in the money list as Gary Hurley's eighth-place finish saw him clinch the last of five Challenge Tour cards.
Both will be at next month's Second Stage of the DP World Tour Q-School alongside Stuart Grehan, who qualified seventh in the First Stage at Mottram Hall on Saturday.
On the PGA Tour Champions, Pádraig Harrington closed with a three-under 69 to finish solo sixth, five shots behind Steve Stricker in the Constellation Furyk & Friends on nine-under-par at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville.
Stricker shot 69 to win by two strokes from Harrison Frazar on 14-under.
