Playing before a wildly partisan crowd on Spanish soil, the fiery Spaniard Jon Rahm shot a five under par 67 to finish at 20-under for the tournament, beating third round leader, Paul Dunne by two strokes.
Afterwards, Rahm confessed that “this was the hardest Sunday I’ve ever had to play” as the weight of expectation and the desire to win his National Open Championship brought added pressure as he played to win his third European Tour title.
Not only were the Spanish fans cheering him on but it seemed the golfing gods were also in his corner as a couple of lucky breaks went his way. On the tenth hole he was well right of the green after his approach, in rough, with a downhill lie to a sloping green. His pitch ran off the far side of the green, stopping just short of a deep bunker. No problem as he chipped in to save par.
On a day of swirling winds, the course played tough, with players all over the lot. Number seventeen, a challenging par 3 with water left of the green, saw a number of players sink their hopes. Rahm tugged his tee ball left towards the pond but caught another fabulous break as his ball held up on the bank and he converted a routine par.
Fellow Spaniard, Nacho Elvira, a young gun with movie star looks and a delectable name also enjoyed raucous support from the fans. Unlike Rahm, Nacho dipped his tee ball in to the aqua fresca at seventeen, made double bogey and wound up finishing third, three stroke back of Rahm.
This win moves Rahm back to #3 in the OWGR, edging past Jordan Spieth who had recently surpassed Rahm. Golf Channel had a stat for Rahm showing this to be his fifth win in 45 professional starts, a win rate of a win every nine starts, impressive stuff.
Rahm is a player who seems to be in the mix every week, although his 2018 stats on the PGA Tour don’t bear that out as he has posted top ten finishes in just three of his nine starts this season. Rahm is a bomber, who has no weakness in his well rounded game. He leads the PGA Tour in birdie average, ranks 2nd in shots gained off the tee, and 11th in scoring average. Scoring average is the telling stat, as he has the enviable ability to get his ball in the hole even when his game is a bit scrappy.
Rahm’s fourth place finish at The MASTERS also has folks and talking heads saying that a major victory will soon be his. Billy Kratzert opines that Rahm will win one of this season’s three remaining majors. Putting The MASTERS aside, his record in the other major championship’s isn’t anything to write home about: T23rd at the U.S.Open, T44th at The Open and T56th at the PGA.
Perhaps this emotional win in his homeland where he carried the expectations of his nation and the golfing world, will be the spring board for greater success in the upcoming major season. Ole!
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