How Did The LIV Golfers Get On At The Open de Espana?

The Open de Espana had a little extra spice this year thanks to the appearance of five LIV golfers at the DP World Tour event. 

They included Jon Rahm, who was trying to win the title for the fourth time. Joining him from the circuit were fellow Spaniards David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra, Rahm's Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton and 4 Aces GC player Patrick Reed.

All five safely made it through to the weekend at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, and four of them - Rahm, Puig, Hatton and Reed - held positions in the top 10 of the leaderboard heading into the final round, as Angel Hidalgo took a two-shot lead at 13-under. 

In second was Rahm, with Puig in third, three behind the leader. Reed began the final round in T4 on eight-under, and Hatton in T9 on five-under. The only LIV golfer not in sight of the leader was Chacarra on T52 at one-over.

After seven holes of the final round, it had looked as though Puig was primed for his maiden DP World Tour win as he held a three-shot after Hidalgo. Rahm, meanwhile, was T3 and four behind, along with Reed.

Soon after, Rahm began to make his move, and took a three-way share of the lead on the 10th along with Puig and Hidalgo as Reed's progress stalled and Hatton failed to drag himself into serious contention.

While Puig had made four birdies and just one bogey on the front nine, it was a different story after the turn, and four more bogeys followed to drop him back into the pack before a birdie on the 18th saw him finish T3 on 10-under.

Elsewhere, Reed and Hatton finished T10 on eight-under after rounds of 71 and 68 respectively. As for Chacarra, his challenged finished with a final round of 75 to leave him five-over for the tournament and 65th.

Rahm was still in contention though, and moved within one of Hidalgo with a clutch birdie putt on the 17th. He then birdied the 18th as Hidalgo missed his birdie putt to win it, leaving the two to fight it out in a playoff.

Rahm put the pressure firmly on Hidalgo with a birdie on the first extra hole, the par-4 18th, and this time he made his birdie putt to take them back to the tee box. Ultimately, Rahm faced a long birdie putt from the edge of the green, which missed right, while Hidalgo made no mistake to take the honors.

While Rahm will be disappointed not to claim his fourth Open de Espana title, his appearance had added significance as he needs to play four times on the DP World Tour this year to be eligible for the Ryder Cup. 

Following his Olympics appearance, which counted, that means he now has two to go this year. It's a similar story for Hatton, and his appearance means he now needs just one more DP World Tour appearance this year to be eligible.

For Reed, the Open de Espana was his third DP World Tour appearance this year, while he is also set to tee it up at next week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship alongside multiple other LIV Golfers.

Puig can take solace from the fact his finish of T3 was his strongest at the tournament, with T34 in 2020 his best effort before this year, while for Chacarra, the bright spot of a disappointing week overall was a two-under 69 on Friday.

LIV GOLF LEADERBOARD AT THE OPEN DE ESPANA

• 2: -14 Jon Rahm (playoff)
• T3: -10 David Puig
• T10: -8 Patrick Reed, Tyrrell Hatton
• T65: +5 Eugenio Chacarra