Jon Rahm beaten in play-off by world No 398 but Ryder Cup hopes given a healthy boost

What is it with Europe’s Ryder Cup greats losing in play-offs? A week after Rory McIlroy was beaten in a shootout at Wentworth, Jon Rahm saw his quest for history in his homeland denied in similarly dramatic fashion in added holes on Sunday.

Rahm birdied the last two in regulation at Club de Campo to catch compatriot Angel Hidalgo in the Spanish Open. But the player ranked 398th in the world turned the rankings on their head by birdieing both the sudden-death holes to collect the £410,000 first prize.

It was an impressive effort from Rahm, who arrived in Madrid on Wednesday, two days after the birth of his third child. The 29-year-old was also suffering from the remnants of the severe influenza that forced him to miss the last two rounds of the LIV Golf Grand Team Finale in Dallas last weekend.

“Thinking that on Tuesday morning I was still in the hospital in another country, on the other side of the Atlantic… so, I’m happy,” Rahm said. “It’s a pity to have lost in the play-off and not have been able to do better today. I can’t say it has been a bad week. I gave myself a chance to win, which is what I wanted. I gave it my all until the end, and I’m proud of myself.”

Rahm ostensibly rushed over from Arizona to ensure that he is eligible for next year’s Ryder Cup. But he put himself in line to leapfrog his hero, the late Seve Ballesteros, in the hall of fame at their national championships and become the first player to win four Spanish Opens in the last seven decades.

Rahm must now appear in two more if he is to fulfil the minimum requirements to keep his card and thus remain eligible for next year’s biennial dust-up in New York – either as an automatic qualifier or as one of Luke Donald’s wildcards.

Rahm will appear at the Dunhill Links, which starts in Scotland on Thursday. He then plans to appear in the Andalucia Masters at Sotogrande at the end of the month and this result should see the 29-year-old leap high enough on the tour’s order of merit to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs next month in the United Arab Emirates.

Luke Donald, Europe’s captain, will be delighted with Rahm’s form. Two weeks ago, Rahm won £13.5 million for topping LIV’s order of merit, which is more than 30 times the prize on offer in the Spanish capital on Sunday.

Tommy Fleetwood also continued his fine run with a tie for third after a 66. Fellow Englishman Joe Dean was in that group, as was Scotland’s Grant Forrest, after a 69 and 64 respectively.

On the Ladies European Tour, Annabel Dimmock missed out on winning her second event in three starts, when coming fourth in the French Open, two behind Swiss Chiara Tamburlini. Nevertheless, it was another resurgent showing from the 27-year-old Londoner.