Tag: Spanish Open

Angel Hidalgo tops Jon Rahm in playoff at 2024 Spanish Open

A spectator just a few years ago, Hidalgo hoisted the trophy on Sunday in Madrid.

Jon Rahm had a chance to win the 2024 Spanish Open – in what would’ve been his fourth victory in the event – with an eagle on the final hole.

He couldn’t pull it off but did get a birdie-birdie finish to shoot a final-round 68. But then Angel Hidalgo missed his putt on the last and off to a playoff they went, tied at 14 under at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in Madrid, Spain.

The duo were in an all-Spanish Sunday trio alongside David Puig, who, like Rahm, went to Arizona State, and like Rahm is a member of LIV Golf.

In the playoff Hidalgo and Rahm each made birdie on the first extra hole. On the second playoff hole, Hidalgo two-putted for the win. It wasn’t that long ago he was at the tournament as a fan.

“Two or three years ago, I was in the first tee, in the trees, supporting Jon [Rahm] without playing, I just come here to Madrid to see the tournament,” he said. “To be here and win the tournament is unreal. Oh, my gosh, it’s amazing.”

With Hidalgo in contention Saturday night, his family and friends hurried to be there for Sunday’s round.

“My best friend Paco and coach Jordi and my parents travelled this morning by train to be here for the tournament,” he said. “I wish my brother was here but I will make a video call now – probably he cries more than me, knowing him.”

Jon Rahm celebrates birth of third child, admits he’d love to have ‘this little one’ on Seve Ballesteros

Life is pretty good for Jon Rahm these days.

Life is pretty good for Jon Rahm these days.

Aside from having to withdraw from the LIV Golf Team Championship in Dallas with a case of the flu, Rahm has posted a pair of victories on the Saudi-backed circuit this year and is not even 12 months into a deal that reportedly will earn more than $550 million between his contract and signing bonuses.

Also, his wife Kelly delivered the couple’s third child on Tuesday in Arizona, allowing him the chance to fly to Spain to play in his country’s national open, which he has won thrice.

Rahm did a walk-and-talk on Sky Sports as part of the opening round of the 2024 Spanish Open at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, and while it didn’t come at an opportune time — he had just pulled a drive and nearly bent his driver in frustration — he said everything is good at home with the family.

“They’re doing perfect. Had anything gone wrong, I wouldn’t be here right now,” Rahm said. “Yeah, it was a fantastic birth.”

 

Rahm has been a staple at the Spanish Open, and this year it marks his first DP World Tour event since joining LIV Golf nine months ago. It’s the first of three events on the Euro circuit he’s planning to play in order to keep his Ryder Cup eligibility. He’s also appealing sanctions from the DP World Tour for his LIV participation, an appeal that’s on hold for now, allowing him to play this week.

“There’s a reason why it’s marked on my calendar, every year early on,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s a lot of fun and a little bit it’s also I feel I need to do for Spain, right? Obviously, this country gave me the platform and the many greats that made that platform before me and I think it’s up to me and the the rest of the guys who are playing out here to come and they keep growing that platform.”

While Rahm has won the event three times, so did his golfing hero, Seve Ballesteros, who took home the title in 1981, 1985 and 1995. For Rahm, the chance to win a fourth crown would mean something special.

“The history-making moments, you think about them afterward. If I ever get close to the position of getting to fourth, that’ll be incredible,” Rahm said. “But there are many great things that the great Seve did that I’m very far from: 50 DP World Tour wins and five majors. So many other accomplishments. It would be nice to have this little one over him.”

Jon Rahm hasn’t forgotten where he came from, spending time signing autographs in his home country of Spain

“I’m going to sign all the children, no matter how long it takes.”

The purse for the CJ Cup at The Summit Club this week is $10 million. The purse at the Andalucia Masters on the European Tour is $4 million. Where’s Jon Rahm?

Right where he wants to be, in his home country of Spain, for the second straight week.

Some things are bigger than money. Rahm is playing for a smaller paycheck this week, if you put the potential appearance fee aside, but the impact he’s making across the pond is no doubt larger than the one he’d be having in Las Vegas if he was teeing it up in Sin City.

After stumbling to a disappointing 78 in his opening round, the world No. 1 reportedly hung around after his last putt dropped to sign autographs for anyone and everyone who were willing to wait.

Not sure many do that after one of their worst rounds of the year.

The fans at Valderrama aren’t the only ones receiving love from their hometown hero. Last week at the Spanish Open, Rahm did the same thing. Despite opening the week with a 63, the Spaniard flattened off the rest of the way, finishing Sunday in a tie for 17th.

“I’m going to sign all the children, no matter how long it takes.”

Some stars just get it. Rahm, undoubtedly, is on that list.

On Friday, he’ll try to bounce back from his 7-over round, and put on a show for all the fans who made the trip to see their idol.

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Rafa Cabrera Bello outlasts fellow Spaniard Adri Arnaus to win Spanish Open

After slipping to 231st in the Official World Golf Ranking, Rafa Cabrera Bello wins his country’s national title.

It was an all-Spanish playoff on Sunday in the Spanish Open, with Rafa Cabrera Bello fending off Adri Arnaus on the first playoff hole at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in Madrid, Spain.

Bello drained a birdie putt and then thrust his fist in the air in celebration. He closed with a 69 while Arnaus shot a final-round 67 as the two finished regulation at 19 under.

Bello started the day with a two-shot lead, then saw it disappear with a double bogey on the first hole. He was then two shots back to Arnaus after nine holes but a clutch up-and-down from a bunker on the 18th hole forced a playoff.

Bello has now won four times on the Euro Tour but it’s his first win on the circuit in four years. He has slipped to 231st in the Official World Golf Ranking, but Bello now joins fellow Spaniards Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Miguel Ángel Jiménez in winning their country’s national title.

“It was definitely one trophy that was on my bucket list,” Bello said. “To join my name to all those champions—Alvaro (Quiros) as well that I can think of—it’s very, very special.”

Grant Forrest, playing in the same group as Jon Rahm in the final round, missed the playoff by two shots but did close with a 28 on his back nine Sunday. He went par-par on Nos. 10 and 11 but then went six under on a five-hole stretch, going birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie on Nos. 12-16. He closed with a birdie on 18 to cap his day.

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Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello takes over top spot at Spanish Open; Jon Rahm six back

A different Spaniard has become the frontrunner in Madrid with one round to go at the Spanish Open.

Rafa Cabrera Bello certainly has the home crowd behind him at the Acciona Open de Espana, and the Spaniard will need it as he takes a two-shot lead into the final round at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. Cabrera Bello positioned himself at the top of the leaderboard in Saturday’s third round with a bogey-free 64.

At the beginning of the week, all eyes were on another Spanish player: World No. 1 Jon Rahm. But after opening rounds of 63-67, Rahm slid to a 1-over 72 on Saturday and at 11 under, is six shots off the lead and part of a tie for ninth.

That leaves Cabrera Bello in the lead spot and with a chance to better his runner-up finish at this event in 2019, the last time it was played. A win would check an interesting box for the 37-year-old in his long competitive career.

“I’ve won every Spanish amateur title there is and I’m missing this one which would be the pinnacle of Spanish golf,” he said. “I’m going to have a very good chance at it tomorrow but I’m sure there’ll be more chances in the future too so I’ll just go out there, have fun, feed off the crowd and try to put on a show for them again.

“Today was one of my favorite days ever out there, in front of my countrymen, playing on a course that I love and with beautiful conditions, I felt really good. I felt their support – I was getting goosebumps almost every hole hearing them yelling my name, it was very special and I’m very proud that I could put on a show for them.”

Cabrera Bello didn’t make a single bogey on the day, and has made only two bogeys in three rounds as he played his way to 17 under, two shots ahead of compatriot Adri Arnaus and Frenchman Julien Guerrier.

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Can Jon Rahm equal Seve Ballesteros? He’s trying his best at the Spanish Open.

Rahm is trying to equal Ballesteros’ mark of winning the Spanish Open three times.

Justly so, Seve Ballesteros is regarded in Spanish circles as the nation’s greatest golf product, revered for his five victories in major tournaments and leading the all-time list of European Tour winners with 50 titles.

But Jon Rahm is carving out his own slice of Spanish golf history, having held the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking for more than a year and becoming the first Spaniard to capture the U.S. Open.

This week, Rahm is trying to equal Ballesteros’ mark of winning the Spanish Open three times, and if Thursday’s opening round is any indication, he just might do it.

Rahm, who won the event in 2018 and 2019 but couldn’t go for a natural three-peat since it was canceled last year due to COVID, fired an opening-round 63 at Clube de Campo Villa de Madrid. Ballesteros won the event in 1981, 1985 and in his final Euro Tour victory in 1995.

“It would be very unique. I know names like Ollie (Jose Maria Olazabal), he couldn’t win it,” Rahm said earlier in the week. “I would hope to be able to get to a third not only to tie Seve but to win it three times in a row.”

There’s still work to be done as Rahm is two shots off the pace after the opening round — Englishman Ross McGowan led the way with a 61 while Sebastián García Rodríguez is alone in second after firing a 62.

Rahm was a star at Arizona State and now lives in Scottsdale, but he was thrilled at the reception he received.

“When I see my face on buses and billboards I realize the impact that I’ve had,” he said. “Little by little I’m getting used to it. I’m very motivated, there is nothing like the support of these fans.”

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Long-hitting Anne van Dam defends Ladies Spanish Open title in a comeback

It was an impressive display of golf in the final round, particularly because Anne Van Dam had to overtake Nanna Koerstz Madsen to win

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Anne van Dam might have the most coveted swing in women’s professional golf. The Dutch player crushes it off the tee – she was the longest hitter on both the LET and the LPGA in 2019 –  and the European Solheim Cupper has continued to pad her win column. Van Dam defended her title Sunday at the Ladies European Tour’s Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España. It’s her fifth title on that tour.

It was an impressive display of golf in the final round, particularly because van Dam had to overtake her Danish friend Nanna Koerstz Madsen to win her second title in this event. Interestingly, even Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez made an appearance in the gallery for the final round.

Madsen had a three-shot lead after three rounds at Aloha Golf Club in Marbella, Spain. She holed out for eagle at the par-4 ninth and was still two shots ahead at the start of the back nine. She was down to a one-shot lead on the 18th tee.

Andalucia Open de Espana: Leaderboard

Madsen made a double-bogey there after dumping her drive left in the water. It was her third double-bogey in a final-round 74.

Van Dam played to her length and placed her tee shot in the middle of the fairway with a 4-iron. She won with a seemingly easy par for a final-round 70 and a 13-under total. She said she didn’t expect to see Madsen’s final hole unfold the way it did.

“Nanna is a good friend of mine so I would have loved to beat her in a playoff, it would have been a better feeling for me,” van Dam told the Golf Channel. “That’s what it is. It’s golf, she took more risk off the tee hitting a driver. I’ve been hitting an iron there all week.”

Madsen tied for second with Aditi Ashok at 12 under.

Van Dam is the second player recent history to win back-to-back Spanish Open titles. Spaniard Azahara Munoz did it in 2016 and 2017.

The Ladies European Tour wraps up its regular season this week at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open, a new event on the schedule.

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