A stunning nine under par final round 62 saw Jon Rahm win the 2022 acciona Open de España presented by Madrid, making it three wins in four starts at the event, tying Seve Ballesteros’ record of three wins at their national Open in the modern era.
The victory at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid also fires Rahm to the top of the European Points List on 850.00 points, as he chases a third consecutive start at the Ryder Cup.
It was a vintage Rahm display in Madrid, with the Spaniard struggling to miss with the short stick and recording a dominant six-stroke victory.
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VIVA SEVE! 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/Iq0jcuZiWr
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) October 9, 2022
The 1997 Ryder Cup, held at Real Club Valderrama and Captained by the late Ballesteros, was Rahm’s introduction to golf with the now World Number Five saying: "I’ve spoken many times about how that 1997 Ryder Cup and Seve making the win that week, some friends of my dad’s started me playing golf otherwise who knows what else I’d be and I’m here because of that alone, and everything else is down to the path that he’s paved for so many of us.
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“Matching Seve’s record was the goal coming in; Seve is a great hero of mine and to do something he took his whole career to do in just a few years is quite humbling.
"It’s emotional. Going up the 18th hole I knew what was about to happen and to get it done like that, I can’t describe it.
"He (Seve) wasn’t really somebody I really thought of that much until I got better at golf, because obviously I wasn’t good until I was like 13 or 14 and when I started getting better, I learned a lot about him and what he did.”
It was also a successful week for France’s Matthieu Pavon, who finished as runner-up after rounds of 64-68-68-65 in Madrid.
This sees Pavon jump 17 places on the European Points List into seventh place with 395.67 points, as he chases a Ryder Cup debut in Italy.
Edoardo Molinari, one of Luke Donald’s Vice Captains, also put in an impressive performance, with rounds of 68-70-63-67 seeing the Italian finish in a tie for fourth.
As it stands Rahm (850.00 points), Shane Lowry (835.00 points) and Rory McIlroy (721.50 points) would claim the three automatic qualifying spots on the European Points List, with Robert MacIntyre (30.06 points), Danny Willett (24.29 points) and Guido Migliozzi (23.12 points) currently sitting in the top three positions on the World Points List.
The 2023 Ryder Cup will take place between Sept. 25 – Oct. 1 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Rome, Italy.
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