This year’s Open de España presented by Madrid is perhaps the most-eagerly awaited of all time. Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid is preparing to welcome the strongest field in the tournament’s history, a plethora of big names promise to make the 2026 edition one of the standout events on the world golf calendar.
The line-up is stunning. Sergio García, Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton, Ludvig Åberg, Justin Rose, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Francesco Molinari, Nicolai Højgaard and Marco Penge, among many others, will be in Madrid from Thursday, gunning for a trophy with more than a century of history behind it. Major winners, Ryder Cup heroes, established stars and young players tipped to dominate the future of the game will all come together on the same stage.
And yet, the man who in recent years had become the Open de España’s figurehead will be missing from the field. Jon Rahm is a late withdrawal as he waits in the United States for the birth of his fourth child. The Basque golfer has won the tournament three times, in 2018, 2019 and 2022, and was hoping to return with a chance to continue writing his name into the championship’s history. However, family comes before any trophy, and Rahm has understandably decided to remain with his wife at such a special time.
His absence is a blow, but it does nothing to diminish the scale of the tournament. Because the Open de España has probably never assembled such an impressive group of champions.
First, we have Sergio García, one of the great legends of Spanish golf, a Masters winner and the 2002 Open de España champion. The Spaniard returns to Madrid, having made the cut in all 14 of his appearances, with a special motivation: to win the tournament once again, but in the capital.
Then there is Shane Lowry, an Open champion and Ryder Cup hero, who arrives in fine fettle after recently winning the Irish Open by a record margin. And Tyrrell Hatton, an entertainer to the last, who finished tenth in Madrid in 2024 and finished third at the Masters and seventh at the US Open this season.
Justin Rose brings even more quality. Patrick Reed arrives as the Race to Dubai leader and a Masters champion. Bubba Watson comes to the Spanish capital with two green jackets to his name, while Francesco Molinari’s trophy cabinet is adorned by a claret jug . And Ludvig Åberg represents the present and future of a sport in which he has already become one of the biggest names on the circuit.
They will be joined by Marco Penge. The defending champion. The player whose life Madrid changed one year ago. His play-off victory over Daniel Brown earned him a place at the Masters and provided a springboard to the PGA Tour. Now he returns to where it all began as one of the tournament’s biggest draws.
Spain’s latest generation of talent will also be in the mix. Ángel Ayora, Eugenio Chacarra, David Puig and the Elvira brothers, among others, will have the opportunity to test themselves on home soil against some of the best players in the world. Sergio García himself has spoken in recent days of his pride at seeing more and more young Spaniards establish themselves on the DP World Tour and earn a chance of playing on the PGA Tour.
The result is a tournament that is difficult to compare with any of its predecessors. The organisers themselves say it has never attracted a field of this calibre, while the Royal Spanish Golf Federation has described this edition as the best ever.
Moreover, all this is taking place on a course that seems made for weeks like this. Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, designed by Javier Arana, will once again set the stage for a contest that looks to have all the ingredients for a spectacular event: big names, young talent, major champions, Ryder Cup heroes and hordes of Spanish fans ready to enjoy four days of world-class golf.
Rahm will not be there. His family needs him, and golf can wait.
But the Open de España will be, and never before has it offered up so many reasons to believe it will be a truly monumental tournament.
Now all that remains is for the fireworks to begin.
