Rahm in Open de España contention in Madrid as Lowry misses cut

Jon Rahm returned to his home tournament in Madrid this week fresh from Europe’s Ryder Cup victory, surging into contention at the Open de España on Friday while teammate Shane Lowry was eliminated after missing the cut. The Spanish Open is being played at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid and Rahm began play on Thursday, a week after helping Europe win at Bethpage Black.

Rahm opened with a 1 over 72 on Thursday — a round that included a brief exchange with a marshal after a wayward drive on the par 4 eighth. After swearing in frustration, he was told by the marshal, "It's OK," and Rahm replied, "Don't tell me it's OK, please. Thank you." The marshal apologized and Rahm went on to make par on the hole before bogeying the next. He rebounded on Friday with a 5 under 66 featuring seven birdies to move back up the leaderboard and sit tied for 18th at 4 under after two rounds.

Englishman Marco Penge leads the tournament at 9 under par after two rounds, one stroke ahead of a trio of players including Joel Girrbach, Aaron Cockerill and Jeff Winther. Defending champion Ángel Hidalgo, who finished runner up to Rahm in a playoff last year, missed the cut along with several other high-profile...