Nobody was going to catch the winner in the DP World Tour’s acciona Open de España in Madrid on Sunday, but Zander Lombard did a great job with a closing four-under-par 67 to finish in a share of fourth.
With Jon Rahm taking his third national open title with a stunning nine-under 62 to match Seve Ballesteros’ haul, Lombard’s five birdies and a bogey took him to 16-under-par for the tournament. That was nine strokes behind Rahm’s winning total, and Rahm won by six from Matthieu Pavon of France. Min Woo Lee of Australia was a further shot back in third. Lombard shared fourth with Edoardo Molinari if Italy.
One shot back from Lombard, Louis de Jager had five birdies and three bogeys for his closing 69 to reach 15-under and a share of sixth. Hennie du Plessis also got inside the top 10 with an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys on his card of 67. At 14-under, he was in a share of eighth. Daniel van Tonder had a final round of one-under 71 to finish in a share of 39th on six-under. Wilco Nienaber was on two-under for the week after finishing with a one-under 70, and Tristen Strydom signed for a 73 to finish on level-par in a share of 63rd.
For Lombard, the good finish projected him to rise 14 places to 53rd on the DP World Tour rankings, which makes it very likely he will get into the Nedbank Golf challenge in November.
