Jon Rahm matches Seve's record with BANANAS final round in Spain

Jon Rahm produced a scintillating final round of 9-under par 62 to match Seve Ballesteros' record of winning three home opens.

Ben Smith

09 Oct 2022

Jon Rahm matches Seve's record with BANANAS final round in Spain

An emotional Jon Rahm claimed the Open de Espana on the DP World Tour by as many as six shots to match Seve Ballesteros' record of winning three national titles.

Rahm, 26, who has consistently had to deny rumours he is the next big PGA Tour star heading to the LIV Golf Tour, began the day with a one stroke advantage over the talented young Australian Min Woo Lee.

In the end at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, the 2021 U.S. Open champion raced clear of the field with a simply mind-boggling final round of 9-under par 62 to reach a total of 25-under for the championship.

The Spaniard won this event in 2018 and 2019. After his final round fireworks, he told Sky Sports: "You might need to ask me [how this feels] in a few days because I take quite a while to process these things.

"It 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.

He continued: "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."

Rahm settled any early nerves he had with a 16-foot par save on the first hole then stiffed his approach into the second hole from 100 yards for the easiest of birdies.

Other highlights of his round included holing a putt from 50 feet at No. 6 for birdie and he picked up another shot at No.7 after a sumptuous chip from the rough.

What a putt @JonRahmpga! #AccionaOpen pic.twitter.com/ZxKjiUhUBm
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 9, 2022

Lee tried to put the pressure with an eagle of his own on the same hole. But Rahm took his advantage to two strokes on No. 9 and never looked back.

This was Rahm's eighth win on the DP World Tour and his 15th overall. He has seven wins on the PGA Tour.

An emotional @JonRahmpga reflects on making history in Madrid #AccionaOpen pic.twitter.com/CzJyRa4cnD
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 9, 2022

Here, he collected €297,500.00 for his victory, which was in huge contrast to fellow Spaniard Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra, who claimed his maiden win on the LIV Golf Tour at their invitational in Bangkok.

Lopez-Chacarra picked up $4.75m in total for his three days' work in Thailand. Both he and fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia missed their national open due to their commitments with LIV.

Just this morning, it appeared that any hopes of the aforementioned Garcia appearing in the 2023 Ryder Cup are all but over.