Golf News
Jon Rahm secured a maiden victory on home soil as a professional with a two-stroke win at the Open de Espana in Madrid.
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.
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.
Meanwhile in America, Ian Poulter stormed into the lead for the first 3 days in the RBC Heritage Open as he looked to add a 2nd win in 3 weeks. After his superb win at the Shell Houston Open and an impressive performance at The Masters, Poulter looked totally in control for the first 3 days but after an uncharacteristically slow start on day 4 he slipped to a +5 round to fall out of contention.
Satoshi Kodaira ended up claiming another maiden PGA Tour title along will Rahm with play-off victory at the RBC Heritage, as Ian Poulter’s hopes faded during the final round.
Kodaira, who was playing several groups ahead of the final threeball, posted a five-under 66 in the best of the conditions at Harbour Town Golf Links to set the clubhouse target at 12 under. Dispite leading the by 2 shots going into the back 9, Si Woo Kim posted 3 bogeys to slip to a tie for the lead and take the contest to extra holes. The duel was won by Kodaira who made a 25 footer to win in dramatic fashion after the first two play off holes were halved with par 4’s.