Jon Rahm already knows who his teammates are in his Spanish Open debut

Jon Rahm will start this Thursday, starting at 2:00 pm, the fight to win his fourth Spanish Openwhere he will surpass Severiano Ballesteros, along with Frenchman Matthieu Pavon, current tournament champion, and Austrian Sepp Strakaon the first two days at the Villa de Madrid Country Club.

The presence of the Barrika player was in doubt after he missed the final of the LIV circuit team competition last weekend in Chicago due to the flu, but he will finally make it. He will also do this with the happy news of the birth of his third child after Kepa and Eneko, his first daughter, after his wife Kelley gave birth.

Rahm had to sit out the Pro-Am that took place on the eve of the tournament in Madridbut he finally made it out of Arizona to join the starting tee on Thursday in the first day’s main in search of his fourth victory after winning in 2018, 2019 and 2022, surpassing Seve Ballesteros, winner in 1981, 1985 and 1995.

The Spanish Open record is held by Ángel de la Torre with five wins, although the tournament was not part of the European circuit until it was created in 1972.

Rahm is partnered with Pavon, who achieved his first professional victory last year after 186 attempts. It was a turning point for the player from Toulouse, grandson of a Madrid native who had to emigrate because of the Civil War, because his success changed his dynamic. In fact, in January he won the Farmens Insurance and became the first Frenchman to win a tournament on the American circuit since Arnaud Massy in 1907.

The trio is completed by Straka, who has already won two tournaments on the American circuit, the Honda Classic in 2022 and the John Deere Classic in 2023. Also last year, second place at the British Open was outstanding, tied with Rahm himself and the South Korean Tom Kin, second only to the American Brian Harman.

The Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, the Irishman Shane Lowry, the two other clear contenders for victory, share another stellar encounter with Nacho Elvira, the best Spaniard in the DP World Tour season ranking.

Fleetwood already participated in the Spanish Open two years ago without much success, while Lowry will make his debut at the Country Club. The Irishman won the British Open in 2019 just ahead of the Englishman and this year he has already won a PGA circuit tournament in New Orleans.

Nacho Elvira arrives after making three consecutive cuts, with an outstanding seventeenth place at the Irish Open, in addition to his victory in Belgium in May, the second of his career on the world circuit.

Tyrrell Hatton, also an Englishman, Rahm’s colleague at Legion, achieved the American circuit card without great results and the most recent finish was sixth place in the said British Masters.

Another of the attractions of the Spanish Open is the participation of the young José Luis Ballester, the historic recent winner of the US Amateur, who will work with the Scotsman Richie Ramsay and the German Yannik Paul.