Jon Rahm looked to be in great form as he returned from the cold weather to play the Spanish Open at his hometown Club de Campo in Madrid this week.
Days after his wife gave birth to their first daughter, the LIV Golf player is competing on the DP World Tour after appealing his fine, with an eye on joining the European Ryder Cup team next year.
Rahm's appeal of his European Tour fine allows him to play in the Spanish Open, which will be the second of four tournaments on the tour this season that he must play to qualify for Luke Donald's spot at Bethpage a year later. He will also play next week's Dunhill Links Championship and could add the Andalucia Masters to his schedule next month to make all four possible.
Rahm, a three-time Spanish Open champion, including two at the Madrid venue, returned to competition after illness and the birth of his daughter.
“I'm just glad that everything went so well and that we were able to bring our little one home and that the kids were able to meet her. I would have been sad if I had to leave and miss that moment. We're just so lucky to be able to do it all and still make it to the tournament on time. Thank God we're both healthy and I'm just so thankful that everything went so well.”
Speaking about the transition from family to a life of golf, Rahm (one of many LIV players in the tournament, including Tyrrell Hatton) added: “I've won here twice, it's a course I love, I've played here since I was a kid. Of all the amateur golf tournaments I've played in Spain, I feel particularly comfortable on this course. It's a narrow course, and both times I won it was because I drove the ball well and putted well. That combination has won in a lot of places.”
Shane Lowry is the only Irishman in the field and is coming to the end of a busy tournament schedule. This is his eighth tournament in nine weeks, the other being the Dunhill Links Championship, before he takes a break from playing lucrative events before the UAE season ends in November.
Lowry, who played in the first two rounds of the three-ball tournament alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Nacho Elvira, said: “I played pretty solidly and got some good scores. But at the end of the day I just want to win the tournament and put myself in a position to win.
“I feel like I've achieved quite a bit this year but obviously I haven't achieved anything on my own. I've helped Rory across the finish line. I'd love to win and I've got four races left this season and my main focus in the next four races is to try and win.
“Obviously, it would be a great start. Looking at this trophy, looking at these names, it would be nice to add your name to it.”
