Spain’s Jon Rahm overturned a five-shot deficit with a brilliant final round of 62 to claim his second Dubai Duty Free Irish Open title in three years.
Rahm fired an eagle, eight birdies and two bogeys at Lahinch to finish 16 under par, two shots clear of England’s Andy Sullivan and Bernd Wiesberger, the Austrian having the consolation of qualifying for the upcoming Open Championship.
Overnight leader Robert Rock also secured a place in the year’s final major with a tie for fourth with fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello.
Paul Waring secured the final berth at Royal Portrush thanks to a birdie on the last in a closing 66.
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Cabrera Bello had surged into a three-shot lead with three birdies in the first five holes, but started the back nine with four bogeys in six holes as Rahm piled on the pressure.
After covering the front nine in 31, Rahm birdied the 10th and holed from 25 feet for an eagle on the 12th before recovering from a bogey on the next with birdies on the 14th, 15th and 17th.
“I keep saying I love this tournament, I love the country, I love the people,” said Rahm, who played the last 36 holes in 14 under after a 64 on Saturday. “I feel like I’m at home every time I come here.
“My game was in great form, it just didn’t show the first two days. I couldn’t hole the putts, and the weekend was the complete opposite. Putts started rolling in from everywhere, I felt really confident and I knew I could do something.
“I knew I had to do something amazing today to have a chance and that eagle on 12 got me going.
“My target was 15 under and I never thought I’d get to 16 under without a birdie on the last but I’m definitely thrilled with the back nine.
“I think Seve [Ballesteros] is the only Spanish player to have won this event twice so it’s very special to add my name to the trophy again.”
Rahm felt that his performance improved as the game went on, particularly in the second half.
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“Definitely thrilled with the back nine I had,” he added. “Me and [my caddie] Adam did a lot of work over the weekend to polish the mistakes over the first few days.”
Austria’s Wiesberger, who was tied with Sullivan two behind the eventual winner, was delighted to be back on the leaderboard.
“I had a lot of time to reflect and work on some things on my game,” Wiesberger said. “A lot on the mental state I want to be out on the golf course and it’s a lot better.
“It’s just nice to see it pay off every now and then and getting to play a couple rounds in the 60s, seeing myself on the leaderboard again, it’s very nice.
“We’ve done a lot of good things out there this week and hopefully we can get do well next week in Scotland and then in Ireland. That was the goal.
“It was lovely to get a sniff at it again at Pebble Beach for the qualifier, and it’s great to be in position to play with all these guys in the biggest events, and there’s no bigger than The Open Championship and the Majors.
“I was really relaxed all week and enjoyed my time out there and took advantage of my good shots and really happy to be going to Portrush.”
Sullivan, meanwhile, believes he is getting back to his best.
“Mentally, it was very good today,” he said. “I chipped and putted it around nicely. Not my best, but I was really happy to come up with the score I did and finish my round.
“It’s starting to come back to when I was playing my best in 2015. Hopefully more of the same trending that way and I can get my hands on the trophy.”
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