Jon Rahm secures two-shot win on home soil at Open de Espana
By Ali Stafford
Last Updated: 15/04/18 5:31pm
Jon Rahm secured a maiden victory on home soil as a professional with a two-stroke win at the Open de Espana in Madrid.
Final leaderboard
The Spaniard fired a five-under 67 at Centro National de Golf to pull clear of the chasing pack and claim a third victory in his last 10 worldwide starts.
Overnight leader Paul Dunne birdied the last to close a one-under 71 and claim second spot, with Nacho Elvira - who was tied for the lead after 16 holes - a further shot back in third after double-bogeying his penultimate hole.
Dunne began the day with a one-shot lead but saw playing partner Elvira birdie the par-four first and Rahm open with back-to-back birdies to make it a three-way tie at the top.
The final pair both bogeyed the fourth to briefly hand Rahm the advantage, only for Dunne to nudge in from close range at the par-five next and Elvira to drain a 35-foot eagle to grab the lead.
Rahm edged back ahead with a close-range gain at the seventh, as Elvira missed the sixth green and dropped a shot, before the world No 4 cancelled out a three-putt at the ninth with a birdie at the par-five next.
Dunne got up-and-down from the greenside bunker to birdie the 10th but missed from seven feet to save par at the next, allowing Rahm to double his cushion by rolling in a 10-footer at the 13th.
Elvira holed a birdie from a similar distance at the same hole and moved alongside Rahm by draining a 35-footer at the 14th, where Dunne slipped three behind with a poor chip and bogey-five.
The Irishman bounced back to birdie the next as Rahm, playing in the group ahead, narrowly missed the water off the 17th tee but pitched to four feet and saved par.
Elvira pulled his tee shot in to the water on the par-three and missed a putt from inside two feet to rack up a double-bogey five, as Rahm posted a two-putt birdie at the last to set the clubhouse target at 20 under.
With the final group needing to hole their second shots at the par-five to force a play-off, Dunne matched Rahm's two-putt gain and Elvira posted a closing par.
A round-of-the-day 63 from George Coetzee lifted the South African in to fourth spot, as Marc Warren ended in a four-way tie for fifth after a third consecutive 69.
