MADRID — Jon Rahm made seven birdies to get back into contention for a fourth title at the Spanish Open on Friday, but fellow Ryder Cup winner Shane Lowry couldn’t fully recover from a poor opening day as he missed the cut.
Rahm’s 5-under 66 put him five shots behind leader Marco Penge of England (67) after the Spaniard had opened with a 72 on Thursday at his home tournament.
Lowry had an even worse start with a 75 in the opening round — two weeks after making the clinching putt to win the Ryder Cup for Europe — and a 68 on Friday wasn’t enough to avoid missing the cut by one stroke.
Penge hit four birdies in a flawless round to sit one shot ahead of a trio made up of Jeff Winther of Denmark, Joel Girbach of Switzerland and Canada’s Aaron Cockerill.
Rahm is tied for 18th. He is trying to surpass Seve Ballesteros as the tournament’s most successful golfer since the creation of the European tour in 1972.
Rahm is making his seventh appearance in Madrid, with his victories coming in 2018, 2019 and 2022. He was runner-up to fellow Spaniard Ángel Hidalgo in a playoff last year.
Hidalgo won’t be back to challenge Rahm this time after the defending champion missed the cut at three over.