Madrid (AFP)
Spaniard Jon Rahm retained his title at the Spanish Open Golf on Sunday, dominating the competition and setting a new course record with a total of 262, 22 under par.
Rahm exploded the previous record of the course, co-held until then with 266 by Kenneth Ferrie (2003) and Severiano Ballesteros (1985).
The 24-year-old, who had five laps from the final lap, never seemed to be in danger: by making an ultimate 66-card with an eagle on the fourth hole, he kept that lead on his dolphin, Rafael Cabrera Bello, who could not do better than him on this last day.
This victory of the world number 5 on the European Circuit, the second this year after the Irish Open in July, also allows him to take the lead of the Race to Dubai (European ranking). It's also Rahm's fifth title on the European circuit, in 39 contested tournaments.
He relegated the second, his compatriot Rafael Cabrera Bello to five lengths. Samuel Del Val, the big surprise of the tournament, completes a podium 100% Spanish: the latter is indeed only ... 1413th world!
Sergio Garcia, another Spaniard, made a name for himself in this last round: the winner of the Masters in 2017 handed a card of 65.6 under the par to finish 7th at the end.
Alexander Levy, the first Frenchman, finished 15th at -10.
Final ranking of the Spanish Open counting for the European Tour in Madrid: (par 71)
1. Jon Rahm (ESP) -22 (66-67-63-66)
2. Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) -17 (66-65-70-66)
3. Samuel Del Val (ESP) -15 (67-65-69-68)
4. Jeff Winther (DEN) -13 (70-69-69-63),
. Joachim B. Hansen (DEN) -13 (69-69-67-66)
. Adri Arnaus (ESP) -13 (65-66-72-68)
7. Sergio Garcia (ESP) -12 (69-69-69-65)
. Masahiro Kawamura (JPN) -12 (70-67-68-67)
. Justin Harding (RSA) -12 (69-72-64-67)
. Jason Scrivener (AUS) -12 (67-68-68-69)
. Zander Lombard (RSA) -12 (67-67-69-69)
12. Andrea Pavan (ITA) -11 (66-75-67-65)
. Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) -11 (71-69-65-68)
. Jens Dantorp (SWE) -11 (67-70-65-71)
15. James Morrison (GBR) -10 (70-70-69-65)
. Alexander Levy (FRA) -10 (70-69-67-68)
...
© 2019 AFP