All eyes were on former world no.1 Jon Rahm when he arrived on the tee this morning at the Acciona Open de España presented by Madrid.
And the two-time winner knew it.
Starting on Club de Campo Ville de Madrid‘s 10th tee, Rahm was welcomed by warm cheers from Spanish compatriots who had come out to support their hero on a crisp sunny morning in the Spanish capital. Rahm felt the pressure of teeing it up in front of home fans, as he explained after his round:
“I told Adam (his caddie) walking down our third hole on 12, it is not that my heartbeat was faster, but it was definitely more intense on the first few shots and the first few putts with the home crowd, and I want to do good, and they want me to play well.”
Rahm found his rhythm quickly with a birdie on his first hole, followed by a stunning eagle on the par-5, 14th. He carried that momentum into the rest of his round as he produced three more birdies, including a beautiful chip shot on the 8th hole for birdie to get to 7 under par.
A par on the 9th hole gave the Basque native an opening round of 7-under 64 to sit one shot off the lead shared by China’s Ashun Wu, Kirdech Aphibarnrat of Thailand and Dutchman Darius van Driel.
Rahm is on track to win his national title for a third time to realise his dream of matching golf legend Seve Ballesteros’ three Spanish Open wins.
“I think his third one was here (Ballesteros’ third Spanish Open victory),” Rahm said on the eve of the tournament. “I mean, it would be incredible. He is obviously the reference in Spain, he made golf where it is in this country and he changed golf worldwide, but here especially. Any time you have the chance to put your name on a list that has only Seve is in it, it’s really incredible.”
Rahm’s Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood has his work cut out to realise his own dream of getting his name on one of the oldest trophies in European golf, after an opening round of 1-under-par 70 on his debut in the Acciona Open de España presented by Madrid.
The Englishman also felt the presence of Spanish fans as he teed it up on the first hole in the afternoon alongside defending champion Rafa Cabrera-Bello. Fleetwood produced two birdies on back nine before missing a par putt on the 18th hole to finish the day on 1-under 70 in joint 46th place.
Cabrera-Bello got off to a steady start with pars on the first six holes before a fantastic birdie putt on the 7th hole. The back nine proved trickier for the Canary Islander. A bogey on the 11th, a double bogey at 12 followed by a bogey on the 18th closed out a disappointing round of 74, 3-over. The Spaniard will need to dig deep tomorrow to be in with a chance of retaining his Acciona Open de España presented by Madrid title.
