Jon Rahm is hogging all the limelight at the Open de Espana, with the world number three set to go off as a short-price favourite for the title.

What	Open de Espana
Where	Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
When	07:40, Thursday 12th October 2023
How to watch	bet365 Live Golf Tracker & Sky Sports Golf
Odds	Jon Rahm 11/5, Justin Rose 14/1, Yannik Paul 25/1, Joost Luiten 30/1, Adrian Otaegui 33/1

The spotlight falls emphatically on local hero Jon Rahm in the Spanish Open, which starts in Madrid on Thursday morning, and the betting community must decide whether to take the short odds about the tournament favourite.

Rahm has won the Spanish Open three times - in 2018, 2019 and 2022 - and the last two of these victories have come at the same venue which is being used this week.

Club de Campo has become a happy hunting ground for Rahm and he is 11/5 to complete a hat-trick of successes there on Sunday.

Rahm was up against Tommy Fleetwood and Min Woo Lee in the last Spanish Open - leaving that dynamic duo in his wake - but neither the Englishman nor the Australian are teeing up at Club de Campo this time.

The main threats, according to the betting, will come from Justin Rose and Yannik Paul.

Rose, like Rahm, has just been on a triumphant Ryder Cup team. Europe defeated the United States at Marco Simone GC the week before last and both will have been delighted with their performances.

Rose, who secured one-and-a-half points from his three matches at Marco Simone, can be backed at 14/1 for Spanish Open glory.

Rose, who partnered Robert MacIntyre before losing to Patrick Cantlay in the singles, is making his Club de Campo debut this week.

Paul won the Mallorca Open last year - his DP World Tour breakthrough - and the 29-year-old German will be looking forward to teeing up in Spain again.

He finished eighth in the Spanish Open last year and has the ball-striking class to do plenty of damage at Club de Campo.

A negative for Paul, and many others, is that they were competing in the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland on Monday.

The Dunhill got delayed due to bad weather, so Paul and the rest of the field in Scotland left later than planned. That may have hindered preparations in Madrid and Paul is 25/1 to overcome the challenge and lift the Spanish Open trophy.

Each-way terms of a quarter the odds, the first five places are available for the Spanish Open, along with alternative options like a fifth the odds, the first eight places, and a seventh the odds, the first ten places. The field of 144 will be cut to the top 65 and ties on Friday night.

Open de Espana course details

Club de Campo is a 7,112-yard, par 71, with three par-fives, 11 par-fours and four par-threes.

It has hosted 14 European Tour events in the modern era - the Spanish Open in 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2019, 2021 and 2022, the Madrid Open from 2001-2005, and the Madrid Masters in 2008.

The average winning score in the last three Spanish Opens has been 22-under par.

The tree-lined, undulating track has small greens and some stunning views over the city of Madrid. Sunny and calm weather is forecast for the vast majority of the event, temperatures peaking at 27C.

Three to follow

Jon Rahm

There are many reasons for believing Jon Rahm will win a fourth Spanish Open title this week.

He triumphed by five shots at this venue in 2019 and by six shots last year, closing with a 62. Having played so well at the Ryder Cup and fresh from a week off, the 11/5 will do for many punters.

Marcus Helligkilde

Improving Dane Marcus Helligkilde has been proving a popular each-way option and the 27-year-old is available at 50/1.

He was runner-up in the Korea Championship in April, then fourth in the ISPS Handa World Invitational in August. He was 27th on his Club de Campo debut last year.

Niklas Norgaard

Another Dane could be worth considering - the 60/1 about Niklas Norgaard will tempt some each-way punters.

Norgaard finished 20th at Club de Campo last year and has been looking like a potential DP World Tour champion for a while.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.