Jon Rahm will be among the star attractions at the Italian Open as the Spanish sensation looks to continue his impressive record in the European Tour’s Rolex Series and make a late bid to win the Race to Dubai.
Rahm has already played in two of the European Tour’s Rolex Series events this season, finishing tenth at the HNA Open de France before winning the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation in July.
He is currently third in the Race to Dubai Rankings behind leader Tommy Fleetwood and his compatriot Sergio Garcia, who will both join Rahm at the US$7 million Italian Open as the European Tour season builds to its climax.
Rahm has been something of a golfing revelation in the last 18 months. He burst onto the professional scene with six top 25 finishes in nine starts on the PGA Tour last season before his breakthrough win in the Farmers Insurance Open in January.
He became a European Tour member at the start of March and finished tied third at the WGC-Mexico Championship before reaching the final of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, where he took World Number One Dustin Johnson to the last hole.
Since then he has cemented his reputation as one of the world’s best players with his victory in Ireland and top four finishes in the opening two events of the PGA Tour’s four FedEx Cup Play-Off events. All of those results have propelled the 22-year-old to fifth place in the Official World Golf Ranking, making him the highest ranked European player in the world.
Rahm will complete his 2017 US season this week before making his way back to Europe to play in the Italian Open at Golf Club Milano from October 12-15. He will then travel to his homeland the following week to compete in the Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Europe and playing another two big events on my home continent,” said Rahm, who is bidding to qualify for the 2018 Ryder Cup team.
“The Italian Open is one of the great events on the European Tour and one that you want to get your hands on. The national Opens of continental Europe are steeped in history and tradition, so to win those events is really special. Winning the Irish Open a couple of months back was an amazing feeling, so hopefully I can play well in Milan and try to win another one.
“If I can produce some really good results in Italy and then Spain the following week I could still have a chance to win the Race to Dubai, which would be a perfect way to end the 2017 season for me.”
