Rahm relishing his return to Madrid

Jon Rahm spoke of his honour of representing Spanish golf as he returned to his homeland to defend the Mutuactivos Open de España title in Madrid.

The 24-year-old followed in the footsteps of one of his sporting idols in the late Seve Ballesteros when he clinched the the title last April, adding his name to an elite list of Spanish champions.

He became the sixth home winner of the event alongside Antonio Garrido (1972), Ballesteros (1981, 1985 and 1995), Sergio Garcia (2002), Alvaro Quiros (2010) and Miguel Ángel Jiménez (2014).

Rahm is aiming to become the first player to successfully defend his title since it first became part of the European Tour’s International Schedule in 1972, and hopes to do so for the maiden time in his career in front of a partisan Club de Campo Villa de Madrid crowd.

"I wish I would have been able to enjoy it a little more," Rahm said. "It was still a great week. Walking down to the 18th green was a great feeling – 50,000 fans showed up to an event that was planned and advertised late.

"I’d like to know how many other European Tour events get 50,000 people. I was really proud of my country and proud of myself to be able to come and win.

"It’s a huge honour to represent Spain and Spanish golf. We all try and follow Seve’s steps and to win that event was unique and very special."

Rahm needed just 19 events to secure his third title on the European Tour before adding the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in July this year, and the World Number Five is looking to to achieve another landmark in his 39th event.

"I had no idea," Rahm added. "I hope I can get to five before Seve did [who achieved the feat in 49 events]. I would love to do that. Those records are always nice. That’s something I have in mind when I’m playing.

"There are some weeks when I really want to win - I’d love to be a multiple winner of the Open de España and I’d love this to be the first time I successfully defend a title. So, I hope that happens.

"It won’t be more pressure than last year. It was the first time I played the event, I was fourth in the world, I had just played well at Augusta. It was a golf course I played in high school.

"This time I don’t know the golf course. Hopefully I can just focus on playing good golf and be in the mix on Sunday."

Rafa Cabrera Bello is also relishing the chance of a big week in Madrid and hopes to improve his record on home soil.

"Really looking forward to the Spanish Open this year, it’s always a pleasure to play in my home country,” he said. “We feel the love and support from the crowds, promoters, organisers and everyone in the event.

"Of course we want to play our best and show off our best golf – sometimes that doesn’t happen, but it doesn’t matter. If they see us trying our hardest they appreciate that, it’s the mentality we come with.

"We want to win and will give it our best shot, but it’s not always in our hands. I’ve played this tournament a lot and only had two top tens, it hasn’t been my best event.

"But that can change in a week. I feel more mature now and can deal with pressure or expectation much better these days. Hopefully this year, with the way my game is at the moment, I can put on a good performance."

Sergio Garcia won this event in 2002, and the 2017 Masters Tournament winner is keen to extend his excellent record in Spain after claiming victory on his last appearance at the KLM Open.

"It’s fun," Garcia said. "It’s good to be a part of this event again – ’16 was the last time I played at Valderrama. It’s a tournament I’ve won in the past, and I would love to renew that feeling here. It should be good fun here in Madrid.

"That’s the goal. I did have a really nice week in Amsterdam a few weeks back. I’m excited to keep that momentum going. My game feels pretty good and hopefully we can have a great week."