Jon Rahm may have missed out on the Open de Espana at the weekend but the Spaniard still had cause to celebrate last week.
The golf star and wife Kelley welcomed their third child together and the third time proved to be the charm as the American gave birth to their first daughter.
The two-time major winner announced that Kelley, who married Rahm in 2019, gave birth to baby girl, Alaia Cahill Rahm, last Tuesday, joining big brothers Kepa and Enecko.
‘So blessed to have welcomed our daughter Alaia Cahill Rahm into the world last week,’ Rahm tweeted this week.
‘Mama and baby girl are both healthy and doing great, I can’t wait to get back home to them.’
Jon Rahm and wife Kelley welcomed their third child together last week
The Spaniard announced on social media that their daughter Alaia was born last Tuesday
Rahm shared adorable snaps of the proud dad and glowing mother cradling their new bundle of joy alongside his statement.
However, the former Masters winner will have to wait a bit longer to continue cooing over his baby girl, while he grinds it out in Europe.
Rahm left his home in Arizona last Wednesday – one day after Alaia’s arrival – to make the trip back to his homeland for the Open de Espana.
The Open de Espana was just one of three events Rahm must play over the next couple of months to meet his membership quota for the DP World Tour this year.
Rahm had been slapped with six-figure fines imposed by the DP World Tour over his defection to LIV Golf last year, which he had been refusing to pay.
He was given a deadline last month to either pay up or pursue a formal protest, which he finally did at the last minute.
The two-time major winner married his longtime partner Kelley in 2019
The couple already share sons Kepa, born in 2021, and Enecko, born in 2022
In an 11th hour maneuver to save his Ryder Cup future, Rahm filed an appeal against the fines on September 12, extending his lifeline.
The appeal process is expected to run into the new year, leaving him free to play the Tour event in Spain last week and two others he had targeted – the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland this week and the Andalucia Masters later this month.
Before his appeal, he has only ticked off one of the four tournaments needed to retain his membership, owing to his appearance at the Olympics.
The four events are crucial to his membership quota for the year and therefore essential for him to play in the Ryder Cup for Team Europe in New York next year.
Rahm narrowly missed out on winning his national open at the weekend, losing out in an electric playoff to countryman Angel Hidalgo.
The Spaniard hotfooted it to his homeland after the birth to play the Open de Espana
However, he will look to bounce back this week in Scotland, where he is one of 14 LIV players in the field.
The kingpins from all three sides of golf’s civil war are set to come together at St Andrews this week in what could prove a pivotal moment for the sport’s future.
As first reported by The Telegraph , PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan – the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV Golf – are slated to play alongside each other in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Monahan and Al-Rumayyan have, in fact, been drawn in the same group for the first round, alongside Billy Horschel and Dean Burmester.