Jon Rahm put on a stunning display to win the 2022 acciona Open de España presented by Madrid and delight the fans who had turned out to watch him match the great Seve Ballesteros.
Like Ballesteros, Rahm is now a three-time winner of his national open after striding clear of his rivals with a nine-under-par 62 in his final round at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, the same venue in which Ballesteros claimed his third Open de España victory in 1995, and his 50th and final DP World Tour victory.
Rahm, now an eight-time DP World Tour champion, finished his dream day with a birdie on 18 to delight the home crowd and move to 25 under par, beating Ballesteros’ lowest score on the Campo Villa de Madrid Black course and claiming his first DP World Tour win since his Major breakthrough at the 2021 U.S. Open.
The 27-year-old fired four birdies on the front nine, including a spectacular 13 foot birdie putt on the par three ninth hole, before eagling the par five 14th, and closing with back-to-back birdies to cement a famous victory by six shots over Matthieu Pavon. The Frenchman finished on 19 under after a 65 and Australia’s Min Woo Lee a further shot back after closing with a 68.
Player quotes
John Rahm: “You might have to ask me in a few days as I take quite a while to process these things, but it was the goal coming in. You know, Seve (Ballesteros) 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? 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.
“My lowest round, my lowest score out here, it was pretty much a perfect week and the only thing that would make it better was if my wife and kids were here. It was the first one, the newest one with Eneko so I’m glad that’s it’s certainly after each kid that I’ve won a tournament, but yeah, I have a lot of family here I don’t see throughout the year.
“It’s hard to…I haven’t had time to process anything, it’s truly an honour. Seve was the winner of this, the Spanish player of the Spanish Open and to join him in just four attempts is very unique, and to beat his lowest scoring record on this course and to do it in this fashion, I don’t know how to describe it. It sometimes takes me a while to get off golf mode and competition mode right, but I’m almost at a loss for words. I’ve been able to join Seve on many lists in the history of this game, the Spanish history of this game, and this one could be the most meaningful.
“There has been bigger accomplishments no doubt and I’m aware there is three victories and this is not the strongest field I play on, but, there not the easiest weeks for me. I come in as the favourite and I’m supposed to win and have the whole crowd behind me, it’s a lot of effort to maintain and just try to play golf in a certain atmosphere I’m not used to playing. It’s probably the most meaningful in that sense because those weeks are hard and when you’re supposed to win by a lot its hard, and to get it done is truly an honour.”
“I know it’s supposed to help but in golf and in individual sports sometimes that crowd can get in your head and its something that is hard to get used to, I’m not going to lie and 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.”
Final scores
259 J RAHM (ESP) 64 68 65 62,
265 M PAVON (FRA) 64 68 68 65,
266 M LEE (AUS) 67 65 66 68,
268 Z LOMBARD (RSA) 69 66 66 67, E MOLINARI (ITA) 68 70 63 67,
269 A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP) 69 65 71 64, L DE JAGER (RSA) 71 64 65 69,
270 D VAN DRIEL (NED) 63 69 72 66, Y PAUL (GER) 70 66 68 66, H DU PLESSIS (RSA) 65 66 72 67, K APHIBARNRAT (THA) 63 69 68 70, M WARREN (SCO) 70 65 65 70,
271 D BRADBURY (ENG) 69 64 73 65, A WU (CHN) 63 72 68 68, R PARATORE (ITA) 67 69 66 69, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 67 66 67 71,
272 R KARLBERG (SWE) 71 69 66 66,
273 J PAUL (GER) 70 70 67 66, S GALLACHER (SCO) 65 65 70 73,
274 N M?LLER (DEN) 66 69 71 68, M SIEM (GER) 69 70 67 68, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 66 71 68 69,
275 J STALTER (FRA) 71 69 68 67, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 71 69 67 68, O WILSON (ENG) 69 69 68 69, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 64 69 69 73,
276 N LEMKE (SWE) 70 65 72 69, S TARRIO (ESP) 70 67 70 69, M HELLIGKILDE (DEN) 71 67 69 69, J HANSEN (DEN) 71 67 68 70, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 68 68 69 71, P WARING (ENG) 67 63 74 72, A QUIROS (ESP) 66 71 66 73,
277 A CHESTERS (ENG) 72 67 70 68, A HIDALGO (ESP) 69 68 69 71, D COUPLAND (ENG) 70 68 67 72, L MASAVEU (AM) (ESP) 66 68 70 73, S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 70 64 69 74,
278 Q VIDAL (AM) (ESP) 68 71 70 69, D VAN TONDER (RSA) 68 68 72 70, T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 70 69 69 70, C WOOD (ENG) 70 69 69 70, D GAVINS (ENG) 71 69 68 70, J LUITEN (NED) 71 68 68 71, V DUBUISSON (FRA) 67 69 70 72, S BROWN (ENG) 71 66 69 72,
279 W BESSELING (NED) 69 71 70 69, P DUNNE (IRL) 71 69 69 70, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 67 68 73 71,
280 P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 68 67 77 68, F LACROIX (FRA) 73 67 72 68, C HOWIE (SCO) 69 70 71 70, D HUIZING (NED) 70 70 70 70, G FORREST (SCO) 70 70 70 70, E KOFSTAD (NOR) 71 69 69 71, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 65 66 72 77,
281 M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 68 70 78 65, J CALDWELL (NIR) 69 71 74 67, J MORRISON (ENG) 69 71 72 69,
282 W NIENABER (RSA) 72 68 72 70, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 70 68 72 72,
283 M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 69 69 75 70,
284 T STRYDOM (RSA) 69 68 74 73, J SALAMA (ESP) 70 67 74 73,
286 B EVANS (ENG) 70 69 76 71, N KEARNEY (IRL) 69 69 73 75,
287 D LAW (SCO) 70 70 75 72,
288 J SINGH BRAR (ENG) 73 67 78 70, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 68 70 77 73,
291 T KOIVISTO (USA) 70 70 82 69,
**
141 R SANTOS (POR) 68 73, C PIGEM (ESP) 70 71, D FICHARDT (RSA) 71 70, O FARR (WAL) 69 72, N ELVIRA (ESP) 70 71, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 72 69, D HORSEY (ENG) 71 70, L SLATTERY (ENG) 70 71, H ZHANG (CHN) 68 73, B STONE (RSA) 67 74, T AIKEN (RSA) 73 68,
142 J KENNEGARD (SWE) 70 72, Z MURRAY (AUS) 74 68, G MOYNIHAN (IRL) 71 71, Z BAI (CHN) 69 73, R RAMSAY (SCO) 71 71, A WILSON (ENG) 72 70, C HANNA (USA) 71 71, B HEBERT (FRA) 70 72, A HORTAL (ESP) 68 74, T BJ?RN (DEN) 75 67, H PORTEOUS (RSA) 72 70,
143 P ORIOL (ESP) 76 67, R CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 74 69, G STORM (ENG) 73 70, T LEWIS (ENG) 75 68, E DE LA RIVA (ESP) 72 71, R MCGOWAN (ENG) 71 72, L GAGLI (ITA) 75 68, J PASTOR (ESP) 71 72, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 71 72, M KORHONEN (FIN) 74 69,
144 A ESMATGES (ESP) 69 75, F CELLI (ITA) 73 71, J CATLIN (USA) 72 72, T LAWRENCE (RSA) 72 72,
145 P ANGLES (ESP) 71 74, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 76 69, R FISHER (ENG) 75 70, R MCEVOY (ENG) 71 74, H LEON (CHI) 70 75,
146 O FISHER (ENG) 76 70,
147 B RITTHAMMER (GER) 72 75, A PAVAN (ITA) 73 74, S DEL VAL (ESP) 74 73,
148 A ARIZABALETA (ESP) 75 73,
149 D BERNA MANZANARES (ESP) 78 71, D CAREY (IRL) 76 73, L VACARISAS (ESP) 74 75,
150 C SHARVIN (NIR) 74 76, O LIESER (CZE) 73 77, J GARCIA (ESP) 72 78, A ARNAUS (ESP) 76 74,
151 M FORD (ENG) 74 77, J SURI (USA) 74 77, K BROBERG (SWE) 76 75,
152 B HELLGREN (SWE) 75 77,
153 H ESPOSITO (ESP) 83 70,
**
OUT N BERTASIO (ITA) 77 WD,