Irish Open: Jon Rahm wins his second title in just his 25th event as a professional

Final leaderboard  

-24 Jon Rahm

-18 Matthew Southgate, Richie Ramsay

-17 Daniel Im, David Drysdale

Scroll down for full scores  

Day four report

Spain's Jon Rahm set his sights on winning the Open Championship after storming to a resounding victory in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, his second win in just his 25th event as a professional.

Rahm fired two eagles and five birdies in a closing 65 at Portstewart Golf Club to finish a tournament-record 24 under par, six shots clear of Richie Ramsay and Matthew Southgate.

David Drysdale, Justin Rose, Ryan Fox and Daniel Im were a shot further back in fourth, with Drysdale completing a brilliant course record of 63 with seven consecutive birdies.

Ramsay, Drysdale and Fox secured the three places available at Royal Birkdale via the Open qualifying series, with Drysdale edging out Lim - who bogeyed the final hole - by virtue of his higher world ranking.

Rahm, who began the day tied for the lead with Im, holed out from 150 yards for an eagle on the fourth and added four birdies in a row from the seventh to take command of the £5.4million event, part of the European Tour's lucrative Rolex Series.

The biggest danger to the 22-year-old came in the shape of a possible penalty for incorrectly replacing his ball on the sixth green, but after being cleared of any wrongdoing by chief referee Andy McFee on the 13th, Rahm promptly holed from 30 feet for an eagle on the next.

Rahm only turned professional in June last year but claimed his first PGA Tour title at Torrey Pines in January and will climb to a career-high eighth in the updated world rankings.

"The trophy is right next to me and my name is going to be there forever now, but it seems hard to believe that it's happened," Rahm said.

"I just look at it and I see Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, Ian Woosnam, Seve (Ballesteros). That's a list of the greatest European Tour players ever and to have my name next to it, and the last one, Rory McIlroy, it's so special.

"To actually play my best golf that I can remember and shoot 24 under on this golf course and win it by six, that is not something I would have believed I was capable of. I learned a lot about myself and it's a really, really special day.

"It proves to me I can perform properly on a links golf course and that's what I've got to take to The Open. I know now that I have what it takes.

"I know I can read the putts right, I know I can interpret the wind and I can hit the shots and I can manage myself around the golf course properly enough to have a chance to win The Open."

Southgate's share of second was the best finish of his career to date, eclipsing his fourth place in the same event last year.

"After last year I wanted to prove to everybody that it wasn't a fluke and that I belong out here playing," said the 28-year-old, who recovered from testicular cancer to secure his European Tour card via the qualifying school in 2015.

"It looks like it's going to keep my card for next year, which at this level of golf I think is an incredible achievement for everybody. I'm absolutely thrilled to bits."

Southgate had already sealed his place in the Open via final qualifying on Tuesday, but Ramsay had forgotten all about it as he chased a fourth European Tour title.

"I knew there were spots but it had totally gone from my mind," Ramsay said after a closing 66 which included four birdies and an eagle in the space of seven holes.

"I was that focused on what I was doing, but it's a massive bonus. It's a golf course that I know. I've played the British Amateur there and it's one of my favourites to play.

"I'm massively pleased. It was a tough last few weeks but I'm a big believer that if you work hard, success will come. This year it's taken a little longer than it should do but I've managed to get there in the end."

Final collated scores

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

264 Jon Rahm (Esp) 65 67 67 65

270 Richie Ramsay 68 70 67 65, Matthew Southgate 65 68 71 66

271 David Drysdale 66 69 73 63, Justin Rose 67 70 66 68, Daniel Im (USA) 64 67 68 72, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 67 66 70 68

272 Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 64 67 69 72, Julien Quesne (Fra) 70 68 64 70

273 Tommy Fleetwood 70 67 68 68, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 70 65 66 72, Oliver Fisher 65 68 70 70

274 Bradley Dredge 68 69 67 70

275 Peter Hanson (Swe) 68 71 66 70, Peter Uihlein (USA) 69 67 69 70, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 67 68 72 68, Gavin Moynihan 67 71 73 64, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 67 70 70 68, Scott Jamieson 70 69 66 70

276 Andrew Dodt (Aus) 71 66 69 70, Ashley Chesters 70 67 70 69, Anthony Wall 67 68 71 70, Scott Hend (Aus) 71 68 64 73, Duncan Stewart 67 72 72 65, Andy Sullivan 72 68 68 68, Sam Walker 69 71 67 69, Shane Lowry 68 71 71 66, Jordan Smith 69 69 69 69, Adrian Otaegui (Esp) 68 69 68 71

277 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 69 70 69, Callum Shinkwin 68 70 68 71, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 67 69 72 69, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 68 70 69, Lee Slattery 69 68 70 70, Michael Hoey 68 72 70 67

278 Haotong Li (Chn) 68 70 70 70, Marcus Armitage 71 69 69 69, Stephen Gallacher 67 69 72 70, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 71 66 72 69, Chris Hanson 70 70 72 66, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 67 69 71

279 Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 71 69 69 70, Andres Romero (Arg) 68 71 70 70, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp) 69 70 73 67, Ian Poulter 68 70 73 68, Eduardo De La Riva (Esp) 70 70 72 67, Padraig Harrington 68 69 71 71

280 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 67 71 70 72, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 71 69 73 67, Matteo Manassero (It) 72 66 73 69, David Horsey 67 69 78 66, Thomas Detry (Bel) 70 68 70 72, Paul Peterson (USA) 67 67 71 75

281 Joost Luiten (Ned) 71 69 69 72, Paul Dunne 67 69 74 71, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 68 70 72 71, Matthew Fitzpatrick 66 72 72 71

282 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 70 67 74 71, Nathan Kimsey 72 68 70 72, Romain Langasque (Fra) 69 71 72 70, Soomin Lee (Kor) 68 71 73 70

283 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 68 72 75, Sam Brazel (Aus) 70 70 71 72

285 Simon Dyson 68 72 75 70

Day three report

Having persuaded Jon Rahm to enter his event, Rory McIlroy could end the week by handing him the trophy after the Spanish star surged into a share of the lead in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

Rahm, who outscored playing partner and defending champion McIlroy by 13 shots over the first two days, carded a third round of 67 to finish 17 under par, a total matched by American Daniel Im.

The world number 11 took advantage of glorious conditions at Portstewart Golf Club to fire six birdies and a solitary bogey, four of the birdies coming in succession from the 11th.

Since turning professional just over a year ago, Rahm has claimed his first PGA Tour title and racked up a string of impressive performances, including finishing third and second in his first two World Golf Championship events.

And the 22-year-old now has the chance of following in the footsteps of fellow Spaniards Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia in winning the Irish Open.

"It could be a very special day tomorrow," said Rahm, who described his adventurous birdie on the par-five 14th as a "Seve birdie."

"This tournament has a good Spanish history and it would be great to join that.

"I've never led going into the final round so I am a little inexperienced in that sense, but I know what I did at Torrey Pines [where he won the Farmers Insurance Open], both good and bad. Hopefully I won't need two eagles in the last five holes again to win tomorrow.

"I have exceeded my expectations massively. My putting and short game has never been my best ally on links courses, but this week has been the opposite. I'm not used to making this many putts and it feels great."

Rahm, who is playing just his second regular European Tour event and finished 10th in the HNA Open de France last week, added: "Before I won at Torrey Pines this was not a possibility.

"The only chance to come and play would be to be invited. Winning that tournament meant I was able to come here and pick and choose events. So to achieve a goal that was not even in my mind at the start of the year would be very special."

Im is ranked 542nd in the world but handled the pressure of the halfway lead in impressive fashion, carding five birdies and one bogey in a third round of 68.

"I think I'm just going to enjoy every moment of it tomorrow," Im said. "It's always good to be on top of the leaderboard. I'm just going to go out there and do my own thing and see what happens at the end.

"It's going to be amazing playing with Jon Rahm. He's one of the fastest-rising stars in the world. I think it will be fun."

France's Benjamin Hebert was a shot off the lead after a 69, with Japan's Hideto Tanihara on 15 under and France's Julien Quesne a shot further back after equalling the course record with a superb 64.

Olympic champion Justin Rose was part of a four-strong group on 13 under after a bogey-free 66 which was amazingly compiled despite hitting just one fairway.

"To go bogey-free on a day when you don't really have your best golf is exactly what I need at this point," Rose said. "It's really sharpened up my short game this week after a couple of weeks off.

"Ahead of the Open Championship at Birkdale I've certainly tested myself, my scrambling capabilities, but come through so far strongly this week and it would be nice to start ironing out a few other tweaks and I'll be feeling pretty good about things."

There was bad news for Rose's Ryder Cup team-mate Jamie Donaldson, who was tied 12th after 36 holes but was forced to withdrew before the start of his round with a pulled muscle in his back.

Donaldson was 25th in the world when he secured the winning point at Gleneagles in 2014, but has since slipped to 231st after a loss of form and various injuries, including one to his left hand caused by an accident with a chainsaw in January 2016.

Day two report

A deflated Rory McIlroy admitted he needs to eliminate "silly mistakes" from his game after missing the cut in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open for the fourth time in five years.

After labouring to an opening 72 on a day when 105 of the 156-strong field broke par, defending champion McIlroy could only add a second round of 73 at Portstewart Golf Club to finish one over par.

The world number four's frustrations boiled over when he slammed his driver onto a tee marker following a poor drive on the seventh, his 16th hole of the day, but it was a clumsy double-bogey six on the next which sealed his fate.

Playing partner Jon Rahm showed McIlroy how it was done in just his second regular European Tour event, the world number 11 carding a 67 to finish 12 under par, a shot behind halfway leaders Daniel Im and Benjamin Hebert.

"I felt like I was battling well, two under through 13 and with another par five coming up," said McIlroy, who had started from the 10th and covered the back nine in 35 before picking up a shot on the fourth.

"To bogey the par-three sixth took the wind out of my sails and to not birdie the seventh was the final nail in the coffin. I was a bit deflated.

"It's disappointing because I felt like I was playing well coming into the week and I need to do some practice over the weekend and get ready for next week's Scottish Open.

"My short game is not sharp enough and I'm making silly mistakes. I'm not being very efficient with my scoring which is making it difficult for myself. Maybe a little bit of course management as well. A couple of times I tried to go at pins I shouldn't have and paid the price.

"It's the simple things I haven't been doing well. I can hit a five iron from 220 yards into the middle of the green, but I can't get it up and down from 30 feet.

"I don't feel like there's so much wrong. I just have to keep at it and stay patient and keep practising. I feel like I'm working on the right things and need to stay on one path and not try to change ideas."

McIlroy was playing just his ninth tournament of an injury-plagued season and admitted being the event host did not allow him to prepare as he usually would.

But the 28-year-old added: "I don't want to make it an excuse because I played a lot of golf last week, I played well in the pro-am and I just did not get it together.

"Even with being busy on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I should be able to go out there and shoot two scores in the 60s standing on my head the way the conditions were.

"It's been a really frustrating year. I need to play more. I feel like I'm starting on a run of doing that and I'm going to play a lot of events over the summer. But I really need to get my game in order if I want to challenge in them."

Since turning professional less than a year ago, Rahm has claimed his first PGA Tour title and racked up a string of impressive performances, including finishing third and second in his first two World Golf Championship events.

And the 22-year-old now has the chance of following in the footsteps of fellow Spaniards Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia in winning the Irish Open.

"If I was able to join them it would be absolutely amazing," Rahm said. "There's still a ton of golf to be played and hopefully I keep playing the same level I've been playing."

England's Matthew Southgate and Oliver Fisher were a shot behind Rahm on 11 under alongside New Zealand's Ryan Fox, the son of former All Blacks fly-half Grant.

And a late start on Saturday means Fox will be able to watch the final Test between New Zealand and the British and Irish Lions.

"I'm going to be a bit biased here and think the Lions might have poked the bear a little bit," said Fox, who won in Northern Ireland on the Challenge Tour last season. "The All Blacks are generally pretty good about fronting up after they have been beaten and Eden Park is their fortress.

"I might be the only one hoping for a home win but I'll be wearing my All Blacks jersey for sure."

After McIlroy's exit there was more bad news for home fans when Graeme McDowell double-bogeyed the 18th to also miss the cut, while former Masters champion Danny Willett withdrew for the third time in his last five events with an ongoing back injury.

Day one report 

Defending champion Rory McIlroy faces a battle to make the halfway cut after labouring to a level-par 72 in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

On a day when 105 of the 156-strong field broke par, tournament host McIlroy could only manage two birdies and two bogeys to end the day eight shots off the lead shared by American Daniel Im and France's Benjamin Hebert.

Playing partners Jon Rahm and Hideki Matsuyama rubbed salt into McIlroy's wounds with rounds of 65 and 67 respectively as the majority of the field took advantage of almost ideal conditions.

"Selflessly it's great to see Jon and Hideki up there, but selfishly I want to be alongside them and it felt like I was going backwards just shooting level par," said McIlroy, who made an early exit from his home event for three years running before his dramatic victory at the K Club in 2016.

"I'm pretty frustrated because it felt like the course was there to shoot a really low score. I could not get anything going and hopefully I can get out there tomorrow morning and make some birdies."

McIlroy, who used three different putters in three rounds on his previous start, had to watch Rahm produce what he described as a "putting clinic", the world number 11 carding six birdies, an eagle and a solitary bogey.

The 22-year-old only turned professional in June last year and is playing just his second regular European Tour event, but said: "To win here would be amazing. Rory's event, the Irish Open... to win this early would be unbelievable."

Flawless rounds of 64 from Im and Hebert established the course record at Portstewart and gave the unlikely duo - with a combined world ranking of 796 - a one-shot lead over Rahm, Oliver Fisher and Matthew Southgate.

Southgate did not have a practice round after qualifying for the Open Championship for the third time in four years on Tuesday, but the 28-year-old from Southend fired seven birdies as he thrived on memories of his fourth place finish last year.

"It completely changed my life," said Southgate, who spent the week of the 2015 Open recovering from an operation for testicular cancer. 

"I think the biggest thing for me was that I always thought I was good enough to perform like that, and it was more like proving a point to the rest of the world that I could do it.

"That put me in a nice place mentally because I stopped worrying about, 'Can you do this, what do other people think of you and have you got the game?'.

"It became, 'Actually Matt Southgate is good enough to compete', which is a huge monkey to get off your back." 

Fisher recovered from a bogey on the third with seven birdies in his next eight holes and also holed from 30 feet for an eagle on the 13th, but was denied a share of the lead with a bogey on the last.

"I've had some ups and downs and it's certainly a grind at times," said Fisher, who was the youngest player in Walker Cup history when he represented Great Britain and Ireland as a 16-year-old in 2005.

"I know I have it in me, I have the ability, it's just the consistency. The top players are more consistent than those lower down the ladder."

Matt Fitzpatrick, David Drysdale and Jamie Donaldson shared sixth place on six under, with Olympic champion Justin Rose and local favourite Graeme McDowell among those a shot further back.

Donaldson's 66 remarkably included a five-putt double-bogey on the 13th, his fourth hole of the day.

"I hit two really good shots into the par five but I was still asleep," explained Donaldson, who was 25th in the world when he secured the winning point in the 2014 Ryder Cup, but has since slipped to 231st.

"I just casually five-putted, which was kind of bizarre. I just wasn't really paying much attention and thought I was going to be there all day.

"The last three events I've played pretty good with a top 10, top 15 and 32nd. Just had a lot of injuries over the past 12 months and now they have cleared up."