GolfPlus May 2018 Digital Edition (May 2018)

2QWKH(XURSHDQ7RXU Rahm victorious on home soil Jon Rahm “A little bittersweet, it’s been a fantastic day. One shot cannot summarise the whole day, it was just the wrong shot at the wrong time but I’m really happy. Playing against Jon Rahm is always tough, he’s a great player and I just came up short this time.” ome hero Jon Rahm delighted the huge crowds at Centro Nacional de Golf as he became the sixth Spanish player to win the Open de España. The World Number Four, who has moved to ¿ fth in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, carded a closing 67 to get to 20 under and hold off the challenge of countryman Nacho Elvira and overnight leader Paul Dunne for his third European Tour title. His three wins have come in just 19 events on the European Tour, making him the third-fastest player to reach that mark, and he joins countrymen Antonio Garrido, Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, Alvaro Quiros and Miguel Ángel Jiménez as Spanish winners of the event since it joined the European Tour in 1972. The victory is Rahm’s ¿ rst as a professional in his homeland after claiming seven national individual amateur titles at various age levels and adds to his two Rolex Series triumphs in Ireland and Dubai last season.Irishman Dunne signed for a closing 71 to ¿ nish at 18 under, a shot clear of Elvira and two ahead of South Africa’s George Coetzee. Spaniard Jorge Campillo and Scot Marc Warren carded closing rounds of 69 to ¿ nish at 15 under alongside Australian Brett Rumford, who ¿ nished with a 71, and Swede Henric Sturehed who shot a 72. Frenchman Julien Guerrier, South African Jacques Kruyswijk and Japan’s Hideto Tanihara ¿ nished six shots off the lead. “It’s been amazing. It’s truly been the hardest day 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 magniﬁ ed. They played a huge part; I came for them mainly so I’m just glad I can win this one for the Spanish people.” Nacho Elvira GolfPlus MAY 2018 27

GolfPlus May 2018 Digital Edition (May 2018) | Page 17