JOSELE BALLESTER. The former U.S. Amateur champion will make his first start since the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship, returning after a strong finish to the season that included a T2 showing in Chicago. Ballester made his debut at the Spanish Open last year and missed the cut. After his first stretch of golf as a professional, the 22-year-old should be better prepared to tackle his home Open.
SERGIO GARCIA. The Spanish golf legend last played the Spanish Open in 2019, also at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, where he finished 7th. He won the Spanish Open in 2002 at El Cortijo Country Club. Since then, Garcia’s best recent Spanish Open finish came in 2016, where he finished 3rd at Real Club Valderrama.
TOM MCKIBBIN. The Northern Irishman has been active since the 2025 LIV Golf season came to an end. The Legion XIII rising star has made three starts on the DP World Tour with all three resulting in top-20 finishes. McKibbin was in contention at the Alfred Dunhill Links last week until he made a quadruple bogey in borderline unplayable conditions at Carnoustie. The 22-year-old is in form and should be a threat any time he tees it up.
JOAQUIN NIEMANN. The Torque GC captain came ever so close to winning the LIV Golf Individual Championship and will be making his second start since the season came to an end. He played at Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship, finishing 20th. Niemann will be making his Spanish Open debut and will be amongst the favorites to win.
DAVID PUIG. Like McKibbin, Puig was dealt an unlucky tee time last week at the Alfred Dunhill Links. The Fireballs GC star tied the lead at 12-under par in the second round before the high winds wreaked havoc on the tournament. Puig will be licking his chops to return to Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. He fired a third-round 65 to get into the final threesome alongside fellow Spaniards Jon Rahm and Angel Hidalgo before ultimately finishing T3.
JON RAHM. The Legion XIII captain has been dominant at the Spanish Open over the course of his career. Since making his tournament debut in 2016, the Spaniard has won the event three times (2018, 2019, and 2022), joining his idol Seve Ballesteros in capturing three Spanish Open titles. Each of those victories came in convincing fashion, highlighted by his six-shot win at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in 2022. Last year, Rahm had stormed back to tie Hidalgo late in regulation with back-to-back birdies but ultimately came up short when Hidalgo made a clutch putt on the second extra hole to seal the win.
PATRICK REED. Reed will be making his fourth start since the conclusion of the 2025 LIV Golf season, staying true to his reputation as one of the game’s most active and competitive players. The 4Aces GC star made his Spanish Open debut last season and finished T10. Reed did most of his damage on the greens, gaining 6.9 strokes putting on the field.
PLAYER NEWS
– Tyrrell Hatton’s incredible record in the Alfred Dunhill Links perservered. The Legion XIII star finished in 2nd place, four shots behind the winner, Robert MacIntyre. Hatton now has three wins at the event with three additional top-5 finishes.
– With the strong performance, Hatton has climbed to 2nd in the Race to Dubai rankings on the DP World Tour, trailing only Rory McIlroy.
– Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen finished T11 at the Dunhill Links after entering the final round in 3rd place.
– Tom McKibbin finished T15 at the Dunhill Links. McKibbin has now posted three consecutive top-20 finishes on the DP World Tour.
– Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka also finished T15 at the Dunhill Links and seems to be finding some form as he’s now finished in the top-15 in his past two DP World Tour starts.
– Chieh-Po Lee finished T11 at the International Series Jakarta after firing a final round 3-under 67 to move up the leaderboard.
– While speaking at last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, 4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson expressed his desire to make the United States Ryder Cup team at Adare Manor in 2027.
“I’d love to,” Johnson said. “I wanted to be there (Bethpage). I just need to play a bit better, and I can be there for Adare. I finally feel like I have my game coming back into form. I’ve got a lot more confidence in it and I am starting to swing it well again … I went through about a year where I just wasn’t swinging at it very well. But I feel I am now starting to hit a lot of nice shots and feel a lot more consistent. The last few months have been nice.”
-While speaking with Today’s Golfer, Brooks Koepka spoke about his old reliable Nike 3-iron that he’s used for years as well as an older model of a TaylorMade 3-Wood.
