The tournament is one of the continent’s oldest and has been the site of many historic moments, not the least being Seve Ballesteros’ 50th European Tour victory in 1995.

His third Spanish Open crown, it was also the legendary Spaniard’s last tournament win, in hindsight a fitting end to a stunning career.

In recent years the tournament has lost a little of its lustre but there is no questioning its place in history with an honour roll including some of the best to ever play the game.

Arnold Palmer, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Peter Thomson and Peter Alliss are just a sampling of the former champions and Rahm himself has twice been a winner.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Like Australian golfers and the Australian Open there are few tournaments Spanish players want to win more than their national championship and it was an emotional victory for Rafa Cabrera Bello in 2021.

RIGHT: Rafa Cabrera Bello won his national Open in 2021 after the tournament had a year off due to COVID. PHOTO: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images.

After missing 2020 because of the pandemic, home fans had plenty to cheer for when Cabrera Bello finished tied with fellow Spaniard Adri Arnaus at the end of regulation.

Rafa prevailed in sudden death with a birdie at the 18th for his fourth Tour title and first since 2017.

COURSES: Nine times a host of the Spanish Open, Club de Campo Villa Madrid might be one of the world’s most impressive public golf facilities.

Formerly privately held and part of a club that boasted more than 10,000 members across sports such as equestrian, hockey and tennis, the facility became council owned in the late 1980’s.

It boasts 36 holes which tend to be busy year-round, testament to the popularity of the game in this part of the world.

The Black Course, host of this week’s event, was laid out by well-respected Spanish golf architect Javier Arana in the 1930’s.

While there have been tweaks made over the years the course is largely faithful to his original and is regarded by most as a good if not great layout.

A challenging site because of the severity of the terrain, the Black Course features plenty of elevation change and requires both imagination and execution to score well.

Jon Rahm seems to always bring his best when competing at home. PHOTO: Octavio Passos/Getty Images.

There are plenty of trees on the property but for the most part they are out of the line of play with the greens requiring approaches from the correct angles to score well.

Jon Rahm won the event in 2019 at 22-under-par but that has been the lowest winning total posted here.

It was five strokes better than his nearest challenger that week, defending champion Rafa Cabrera Bello who won at 19-under a year ago.

PRIZEMONEY: EUR1,750,000

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Rahm is the obvious player to watch with two wins from three starts in the event and one of those coming at this venue.

The one-time major winner is a level above the bulk of this field and while no tournament is easy to win it would be surprising if he wasn’t near the pointy end of the leaderboard come Sunday.

The defending champion, Rafa Cabrera Bello, has also shown a liking for this venue with a runner-up to Rahm in 2019 and victory last year though his form of late has been patchy.

He was one of those who didn’t break 80 in round two last week in Scotland and subsequently missed the cut though those conditions won’t be repeated this week.

It’s been a pretty dismal 2022 for the 38-year-old with 11 missed cuts in 21 starts but he won’t lack motivation – or good memories – this week.

Tommy Fleetwood was disappointing at St Andrews but, like Rahm, stands out in this field.

The Englishman hasn’t been quite at his best in 2022 yet still has six top-10 finishes and just two missed cuts on his resume.

He hasn’t played the tournament since 2016 and has no track record at this venue but he remains due a good week regardless.

72-HOLE RECORD: 262 (-22, Jon Rahm, 2019)

PAST AUSSIE WINNERS: Peter Thomson (1959), Bob Shaw (1968), Rodger Davis (1990)

AUSTRALIANS IN THE FIELD: Min Woo Lee, Jason Scrivener, Maverick Antcliff and Zach Murray.

TV TIMES*
Round 1: Thursday (Fox Sports 505 11pm – 4am)
Round 2: Friday (Fox Sports 505 11pm – 4am)
Round 3: Saturday (Fox Sports 505 10.30pm – 2.30am)
Round 4: Sunday (Fox Sports 505 11pm – 2.20am)
*AEDT, check local guides