Jon is home and dry as Dunne slips
JON RAHM spoke of his ‘hardest Sunday’ after firing a closing five-underpar 67 to win the Open de Espana in Madrid yesterday.
The world No 4 became the sixth Spaniard to win the tournament since it achieved European Tour status in 1972, finishing on 20 under overall and two shots clear of Wicklow’s Paul Dunne.
And Rahm — who follows the likes of Seve Ballesteros and Sergio Garcia in winning his home event — admitted that he found it difficult to handle the expectations placed on him by the home fans.
‘I’m just happy to play the way I did and to get it done,’ Rahm told Sky Sports following his third European Tour victory.
‘It’s probably the hardest Sunday I’ve ever had to play because the amount of crowds I was carrying.
‘I saw the willingness and the feeling that everybody had to want me to win,’ he added.
‘They were pushing so hard and I felt that. As a golfer, it’s hard to deal with the public’s emotions, so I tried to isolate myself and that’s perhaps why I didn’t play my best golf.’
Overnight leader Dunne led by one shot heading into the final round, but Rahm stamped his mark on proceedings with birdies at the first, second and seventh holes.
Dunne chose to take the positives from an event where he led after days one, two and three.
‘I felt like I hit the ball great,’ he said. ‘Mostly my short game let me down a little bit. I hit a lot of chips that I thought were better than they were and I just kept misjudging bounces.
‘I hit the ball fantastic, I was hitting it long and straight so I feel good going into the next few weeks. Obviously I’m disappointed not to win but it is what it is. ‘I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing. ‘I’m a little disappointed but Spain has a great champion in Jon and I’m sure he’ll win many more of these.’
The tournament was eventually decided on the short 17th as Rahm escaped with a par after almost sending his tee shot into the water, the ball just holding up in the rough.
Rahm’s closest challenger, Nacho Elvira, was not so fortunate at the 17th when he found the hazard and his hopes of a maiden victory disappeared with a double bogey five.
Moments later Rahm birdied the last to secure a third win from just 19 European Tour events, making him the third-fastest player to reach that mark.