Six Spaniards have now won their home open championship since it launched the modern-day European Tour in 1972. Only one of them, however, has achieved that feat as the culmination of a dominating march through seven national Spanish amateur titles at various age levels: from junior to open and amateur to professional.
Severiano Ballesteros won three Spanish Opens (1981, 1985 and 1995) but joined the paid ranks without having forged his skills in official amateur competitions. Antonio Garrido won the 1972 Open and Miguel Ángel Jiménez the 2014 edition, but both were caddies before turning pro. Álvaro Quirós (2010) and Sergio García (2002) were hugely successful at an amateur level; however, neither tallied the same impressive number of national titles as Rahm. José María Olazabal had an even more stellar amateur career than Rahm’s (winning British titles at Boys, Youth and Amateur levels) but he has never won the Spanish Open.
"It's such a satisfying feeling," said Rahm after carded a closing 67 to get to 20-under and hold off the challenge of countryman Nacho Elvira and overnight leader Paul Dunne at the Centro Nacional de Golf Madrid for his third European Tour title. "When I made the decision to come straight from Augusta it wouldn't be to just show up and walk around, I wanted to win this tournament.
"I've been blessed to be national champion from 16 to all ages in Spain. To round my amateur and pro career together in this way and win the last one I had to win and join that prestigious list of Spanish winners, it's hard to explain how good it feels and how satisfying it is.
"It's been amazing. It's truly been the hardest Sunday I've ever had in any tournament that I've won because the crowd wanted it so much and I wanted it so much. You can tell how excited everybody is; I felt that tension, I felt that stress, I felt everything magnified. They played a huge part; I came for them mainly so I'm just glad I can win this one for the Spanish people."
The current world number four’s three wins – following his two Rolex Series triumphs in Ireland and Dubai last season – have come in just 19 events, making him the third-fastest player to reach that mark.
