Jon Rahm hailed the tougher test provided by the 2025 Open de España presented by Madrid after wrapping up a mixed week with a fine round of 65.
The three-time champion on home soil had to settle for a creditable ten under par finish in this year's tournament at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, with Sunday's seven-birdie effort and Friday's 66 offset by 72 on Thursday and 71 on Saturday.
“It’s always great to come home," he said. "Unfortunately only two out of four days were good, the other two were bad. And I didn’t feel like I played that different, it’s just the course got me a few times.
“It’s very tricky this year and I hope we can see it this firm and difficult more times in the future because in my opinion it plays more fun.
“It’s hard out there, I wish people could see how close to the edge of the green a lot of those pins are and how small those greens are. You have a chance to shoot five, six, seven under but those bogeys come in quick.”
Rahm began his final round with back-to-back birdies, including a 36-foot putt at the second, and gained further strokes at the seventh and tenth before a bogey at the next.
Three birdies in the final five holes ended his tournament on a high note and he said: “Today was really good, everything went well – hit it great, putted well, only one bogey on the card and it wasn’t really too bad a swing, just a difficult par three that I short-sided myself on.
“I wish I was teeing off later and having a chance to win but the support’s always incredible.
“The fans always make themselves heard and no matter how early or how late I am teeing off, they’re there for me, they show up. They’re there to support me though the entire round.
“Days like yesterday were hard, when I was playing well and just slowly came back, they’re still cheering me on and when I keep making bogeys, it’s just a little bit more difficult for me to process.
“But days like today when things are going well, they definitely push me and that’s the reason I’ve played so well here in the past, using that crowd to my advantage has helped me so much.”
