Round 4 - Jon Rahm wins Open de España

April 15, 2018

Rising Spanish star Jon Rahm clinched his first victory on home soil Sunday after overhauling overnight leader Paul Dunne of Ireland to win by two strokes in Madrid.

The 23-year-old Rahm, coming off a fourth-place finish at the Masters last weekend, carded six birdies in a closing round of 67 to finish 20 under for the tournament at the Centro Nacional de Golf.

The world number four earned his fifth career title, three of which have come on the European Tour, and joined the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jimenez as winners of the Spanish event. "It's such a satisfying feeling," he said. "When I made the decision to come straight from Augusta it wouldn't be to just show up and walk around, I wanted to win this tournament," Rahm told europeantour.com. "It's been amazing. It's truly been the hardest Sunday I've ever had in any tournament that I've won because the crowd wanted it so much and I wanted it so much. "You can tell how excited everybody is, I felt that tension, I felt that stress, I felt everything magnified. They played a huge part, I came for them mainly so I'm just glad I can win this one for the Spanish people." Dunne, who led Nacho Elvira by a stroke going into the final round, finished on 18 under par while Elvira dropped to third place on 17 under after finding the water for a double bogey on the penultimate hole.

Player

Jon Rahm

Paul Dunne

Nacho Elvira

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Round 3 - Dunne holding on to lead, Elvira & Rahm chasing

April 14, 2018 Ireland's Paul Dunne saw his overnight three-shot lead cut to just one stroke at the Spanish Open on Saturday and will face a two-pronged home attack in Sunday's final round from Nacho Elvira and world number four Jon Rahm. Dunne fired a third round 68 to stand at 17 under par for the tournament being played at the Centro Nacional de Golf.

Elvira carded a 66 to stand at one shot behind while Rahm is joint-third with Sweden's Henric Sturehed, both of whom matched Elvira's six under for the day. "It's probably the best my swing has felt, the best my body has felt like it's been moving, but I just didn't pull the shots off," Dunne, the British Masters winner last season, told europeantour.com. "There was a lot of grinding there on the back nine but I'm happy to get in with four under. Probably wouldn't have taken it at the start of the day but given the shots that I hit, I'm pretty happy with it leading into tomorrow. "Everything feels good, the game feels great, I just didn't pick shots. I hit a few shots without having a shot in mind so that's something to work on for tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have a good day. I'm confident about tomorrow." Rahm, fresh from a fourth-place finish at the Masters last weekend, is seeking a first career title on home soil.

Player

Paul Dunne

Nacho Elvira

Henric Sturehed

Jon Rahm

Brett Rumford

Andy Sullivan

Aaron Rai

Jorge Campillo

Marc Warren

Andrew Johnston

Bradley Neil

Jacques Kruyswijk

Maximilian Kieffer

Round 2 - Paul Dunne fires 65 to take solo lead in Spain

April 13, 2018 Irishman Paul Dunne claimed a three-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Spanish Open with an enterprising second-round 65 on Friday, while home favourite Jon Rahm stayed well-placed for a weekend charge. World number 76 Dunne, who is playing his first regular European Tour event since January after a successful stint in the United States, poured in nine birdies in his seven-under-par round to take the overall advantage on 13-under.

"My game is in good shape, I'm feeling good. I see a lot of birdies around this course if the weather stays like this so hopefully I can make them," Dunne told europeantour.com.

"I think it's been training the right way for a while and I've got a nice run of events here in Europe over the next few weeks as well, so I'm looking forward to that and hopefully just keep doing what I am doing."

The 25-year-old made his name when he tied for the lead after three rounds of the 2015 British Open as an amateur, and claimed his first professional title at last year's British Masters.

After back-to-back top-10 finishes on the USPGA Tour, Dunne leads by three strokes from the trio on 10-under of Nacho Elvira, Brett Rumford and Callum Shinkwin.

World number four Rahm, who finished fourth at last week's Masters after a thrilling weekend surge, added a four-under 68 to his opening 67 and is four strokes off the lead.

The big-hitting Spaniard eagled the opening hole, but a double-bogey on the 12th stalled his charge.

But he was delighted to be playing in front of a large home crowd as he bids to follow the likes of compatriots Sergio Garcia, Seve Ballesteros and Miguel Angel Jimenez in winning the title.

"It's amazing. I think everybody wasn't expecting the amount of people that we have this week. I'm glad that I can help the tournament, I'm glad I can help Spain and Spanish golf in that sense," Rahm said.

"I don't remember the last time I played a tournament where the first hole is a par five and from the tee all the way to the green there was at least a line of people, and the first hole is not a short hole."

Defending champion Andrew Johnston signed for a second successive 68 and is only a shot further adrift in a tie for ninth.

Round 1 - Marc Warren & Paul Dunne take lead in Spain, Rahm T3

April 12, 2018

World Number Four Jon Rahm is just one shot off the pace after Paul Dunne and Marc Warren both produced big finishes to sit atop a congested leaderboard after day one of the Open de España.

"It feels great. To be honest, I would have taken anything under par given the fact that I played a lot better than I expected to play. My long game was amazing. The driver alone set up two birdies on 13 when I hit it over the green and on seven, where I got it right up to the green so things like that are a bonus. Hopefully I can keep hitting it tee-to-green the same way and make a few more putts the rest of the week.

“They did a fantastic job drying the course. On the first hole especially after yesterday I was expecting the ball to land and stop but it took a big bounce. It was amazing to be able to dry up the course the way they did, that’s why the scores are not as low as we expected. On the par fives even, if I had a seven iron I couldn’t have stopped it on the green, you are not going to be able to hit it really close, same on five. So all credit to maintenance, it was amazing to see how good a job they’ve done.

“That bogey on 17 was unexpected because I hit three great shots and still made a bogey. Great tee shot where I wanted to hit it just a bit too long, good chip a little too far to six feet, and the putt was good but it lipped. Everything balances out in golf at some point, and I got lucky I made that putt on the par five because was going pretty far past the hole. That was just a little bonus and got the second nine rolling when I played really good."

Warren birdied five of his last seven holes to sign for a 66 and get to six under and it looked like he would lead on his own as heavy rain moved in during the late afternoon at Centro Nacional de Golf.

“It was good. Finished with three birdies in a row so it kind of makes it look a little bit better obviously. Overall, it was really solid tee to green. I putted really well today— pace was really good. The putts that missed I didn’t leave myself much to do, and the good putts always looked like they had a chance of going in.

“It’s tricky, it was really cold this morning. It was kind of warming up the first couple holes and then the wind changed direction slightly, picked up a bit, and it got really cold, so the woolly hats and mitts were back out again. It warmed up about the back nine and it was a nice finish, so it didn’t seem too bad.

“You know when you’re out that early and its cold and windy its always going to be a tough start, so it’s important to be patient, so I’m really delighted with that start.”

The conditions proved no problem for Irishman Dunne, however, as he finished with an eagle to join the Scot on top and lead by one from a group of 11 players.

"I'm pretty pleased. I find the greens quite tricky to read out there especially on the front nine, so it was nice to get a couple of putts go in on the back nine and give myself a climb up the leaderboard.

"Our front nine was quite windy and that just makes it trickier to putt than anything else. This golf course with the rough the way it is - kind of patchy - you can get away with some bad shots but it's just hard to make the five, six-footers for par if you get out of position.

"Then on the back nine the wind died a little bit but the rain came in so it was a tale of two halves. I'd rather the little bit of rain and calm conditions because it makes the greens a little more puttable for me.

"The greens aren't that big, you've got to drive the ball reasonably well, but you can get away with some bad ones. It's a matter of trying to take advantage of the short irons when you get them because it's pretty easy to just one-hop over greens or be just a little bit short and get a little bit out of position.

“On the first nine holes I was playing pretty nicely but I wasn’t giving myself chances close enough. Then I hit a couple of shots a little bit closer on the back nine when I got wedges in my hand. And it was nice to finish with an eagle. I thought the drive was borderline carrying, so it was nice to take it over and then take advantage of it."

Rahm, who finished fourth at the Masters Tournament last week, and amateur Victor Pastor delighted the home crowds at five under alongside English trio Aaron Rai, Callum Shinkwin and Jonathan Thomson, Swedish pair Alexander Björk and Henric Sturehed, Frenchman Julien Guerrier, Australian Jason Norris, Austrian Matthias Schwab and South African Erik van Rooyen.

Defending champion Andrew Johnston was then in the group at four under, with 40 players within three shots of the lead.

Local favourites Nacho Elvira and Pedro Oriol, South African pair Trevor Fisher Jnr and Richard Sterne, German Sebastian Heisele, Dane Thorbjørn Olesen, Australian Brett Rumford and fellow Englishman Paul Waring were alongside Johnston two off the lead.

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