Jon Rahm returns to action this week at the Spanish Open, his first tournament since winning the Ryder Cup with Europe at Bethpage Black.
Rahm is humble with his Ryder Cup success, having helped Europe defeat the USA 15-13 in New York late last month.
He scored three points for Luke Donald’s side, behind only Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton.
Rahm really enjoyed Europe’s Ryder Cup win in Long Island, where he claimed a 3–2–0 record from his five matches.
The Spaniard now turns his focus to the DP World Tour, having returned home to take on the Spanish Open at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
Jon Rahm suggests issue with course at the Spanish Open
Ahead of the tournament, the LIV Golf star was asked what he thinks stands out about the course in the Spanish capital.
Rahm said: “It’s an old school design, right. It’s not long with very small greens and supposed to be a lot narrower and a lot of trees, but unfortunately due to weather in the last few years, very hot summers and very bad storms in winter, because Madrid gets both.
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“They lost quite a few of the trees that you need on this golf course to be playing as hard as it can. This has unfortunately become a little bit too short.
“So if we get the weather that we are supposed to have very little wind and just sunny, you’re going to see some low scores, right.
“Every part of the game needs to be good but in my case, being as narrow as it is, it’s having a good week off the tee is paramount to being able to have a good week.”
Jon Rahm names his biggest motivation to win another Spanish Open title
Rahm should be able to thrive on the seemingly short and easy course at Madrid, with the Spaniard representing one of the biggest hitters in the modern game.
He ranked sixth in the 2025 LIV Golf driving distance stats, finishing his season with an average figure of 323.3 yards, although he’ll need to combine that with accuracy this week.
His history at the DP World Tour event also makes him a strong candidate to come out on top, with Rahm boasting three Spanish Open wins.
He’s already emulated compatriot Seve Ballesteros in that regard, and came agonisingly close to a fourth last year, only to lose in a playoff to Angel Hidalgo.
Reminded about that near miss and how close he is to surpassing Ballesteros, Rahm was asked what’s motivating him most this week.
He replied: “I would say exactly that, right, trying to get that fourth. Getting one step closer to eventually possibly getting to No. 6.
“I was able to get three very, very fast, and it’s never easy, and I’m hoping I can do sooner than later. But just focusing on that, hopefully getting that fourth.”
His victories arrived in 2018, 2019 and 2022, while eight Spanish players have won the title a combined 12 times since the inaugural season of the DP World Tour in 1972.
That trend could continue this week given 21 home players are in the field, with that list including four previous winners.
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