This is not just any Sunday for Jon Rahm as he has several opportunities to make history should he win the 2019 Open de España.
Firstly, he would be the first player to successfully defend the title at this tournament since it became part of the European Tour (1972), before which players such as Ángel De la Torre and Marcelino Morcilla, among others, had achieved the feat.
He has never successfully defended a title as a professional, and as he has said on several occasions, it would be particularly special to defend his first on home soil.
He also has the possibility of breaking three records with his final score, as he starts today on -17 and it is well within his capabilities to reach -22, the lowest winning score at an Open de España. -24, his lowest ever winning score, is also in his sights and, finally, Sam Torrance won by eight shots in 1982, while Rahm currently leads by 5.
His career is often compared with that of Seve Ballesteros and victory today would mean he has reached five European Tour wins before the legend from Pedreña did the same.
But he would also join Ballesteros on a list of illustrious players who have won one of the European Tour’s national opens two years on the trot. Tiger Woods (Open Championship), Seve Ballesteros (France) and Bernhard Langer (Germany) are just some of the names to have done so and they are players that have always been idols of Rahm’s.
He would be just one Open de España away from equalling Ballesteros’ haul and the only other Spaniard with more than one triumph at the tournament (since 1972).
If he were to claim this Open trophy, the player from Barrika would be leading the Race to Dubai and, as long as Patrick Cantlay does not win in Las Vegas, he would climb to number four in the world.
Besides his five-shot lead and how solid he has looked all week on the Club de Camp Villa de Madrid’s black course, there is another intriguing stat that may work in Jon’s favour; the only time he has made a hole-out eagle from the fairway came at the Irish Open he won in 2017, so the one he produced here on the 16th yesterday could prove prescient.
Of course, we will have all the answers today, and Jon Rahm has a whole raft of challenges ahead of him, but that has never proved a problem to him before.
