Rahm defends his crown on home soil in commanding win
WORLD number five Jon Rahm successfully defended his Mutuactivos Open de Espana title with a commanding victory at Club de Campo in Madrid.
Rahm carded a closing 66 to finish 22 under par, five shots ahead of compatriot Rafa Cabrera Bello, with Samuel Del Val making it a Spanish 1-2-3 on 15 under.
The win takes Rahm above Open champion Shane Lowry on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai with seven tournaments remaining in the season.
Rahm began the final round with a five-shot lead following a superb 63 on Saturday and was never in danger of being caught after a brilliant approach to the par-five fourth set up an eagle from four feet. The 24-yearold also birdied the seventh, ninth, 10th and 14th and was only denied an even bigger winning margin when Cabrera Bello birdied five of the last six holes, while he dropped a shot on the 17th.
“I’m not happy I three-putted 17, I wanted to go bogey-free, but at the end of the day I did the important thing, I was able to successfully defend it in front of the home crowd,” Rahm told Sky Sports.
“It might not be the strongest field yet but it’s always really hard for me to keep everything under control and to play the weekend that I did for them is always really fun.
“I can’t wait for next year to come back and hopefully do it three times.”
In only his third European Tour event, Callum Hill finished top Scotsman in Madrid with a share of 17th place on nine under.
Meanwhile, Christine Wolf won the Hero Women’s Indian Open by three shots, with England’s finishing Meghan MacLaren third.
The Austrian made up for losing the title in last year’s final round, carding a 69 to finish on 11 under par. MacLaren started the day within a shot of the lead, but three birdies and three bogies in a 72 left her on seven under, one behind Marianna Skarpnord of Norway.
Elsewhere, Kevin Na matched his career-low to head into the final day of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open with a two-shot lead over Patrick Cantlay.
Las Vegas local Na finished with a 10-under 61 on a day of low scoring. The South Korean-American ended the day with a 22-under total of 191, which was a 54-hole record at the event he previously won in 2011. Na had started the day in a four-way tie with fellow Americans Lucas Glover, Brian Stuard and Cantlay, a winner in Las Vegas in 2017 and runner up last year.
Na began with a pair of birdies on the first and second and kept his cool to nail a 22-foot putt on the fifth and save par.
Cantlay notched eight birdies in his first 16 holes but got stuck in a bunker on the 17th before closing out the final hole with a birdie. Russell Knox of Scotland was Britain’s best performer, moving up 20 places to 15th on 13 under after shooting a 65. MARC MARQUEZ claimed his sixth MotoGP world title after winning in Thailand.
Despite being taken to hospital after a crash in first practice earlier this week, the 26-year-old was fit enough to secure his fourth successive title with four races remaining.
Marquez went into the race needing to win by two points more than nearest rival
Andrea Dovizioso and managed to do so as the Italian finished fourth.
The Spaniard re-took the lead from Fabio Quartararo on the final corner of the last lap in a thrilling finish. Marquez has now moved ahead of Australian rider Mick Doohan in the all-time list of world titles. Football League One, Bolton v Blackpool - Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Football - 1930.
American football NFL, San Francisco 49ers v Cleveland Browns - Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Action 0100 (Tue).
Baseball MLB, Play-offs - BT Sport 2 1800, BT Sport/ESPN 2130 & BT Sport 1 0100 (Tue). Darts World Grand Prix - Sky Sports Action 1900.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, October 8)
Rugby union World Cup, South Africa v Canada - ITV 4 1045.
Gymnastics World Championships - BBC Two 1330.