In 16 professional starts at Real Club Valderrama, Sergio Garcia has 15 top-10 finishes and three titles.
With the LIV Golf league entering their final quarter of the season, the 14-event season touches down on Spanish soil for LIV Golf Andalucía, tournament 10 on the roster.
Real Club Valderrama, originally recognised as Las Aves (Sotogrande New), was built in 1974 under the architectural guidance of Mr. Robert Trent Jones, Sr, a godfather among golf course architects.
In 1984, the golf course came under the ownership of Mr. Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, who embarked on a mission to elevate the course to an unprecedented level of excellence, setting a new benchmark for European golf.
Consistently ranked as the No. 1 course in Europe since the late 1980s, Valderrama has played host to some of golf’s biggest events.
Most notably, it was the site of the 32nd Ryder Cup won by Europe in 1997, and has also hosted two editions of the World Golf Championships (1999 and 2000), the Volvo Masters (1988-2009), and in recent years, the Andalucía Masters, one of the most prestigious tournaments in Spain. While 12 months ago it was host to the inaugural LIV Golf Andalucía.
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Both Smash GC’s Graeme McDowell (2010) and Fireballs GC skipper Sergio Garcia (2011, 2017-2018) have been victorious themselves at Valderrama as Sergio is primed to getting back on familiar territory.
“I’m looking forward to everything,” said Garcia. “The Spanish crowds, the Spanish people following us and cheering us on.
“It’s obviously a beautiful part of the world and a beautiful part of Spain so there is a lot of great things to look forward to.”
Located in Sotogrande, Southern Spain, the locals will also welcome fellow Fireballs Spanish team members in Eugenio Chacarra, winner of the 2022 LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok and 2023 St Andrews Bay Championship on the Asian Tour’s International Series, as well as David Puig, champion in the 2023 International Series Singapore and 2024 IRS Prima Malaysian Open.
With a handful of top five finishes so far this season on LIV, in 16 professional starts at Valderrama, Sergio has 15 top-10 finishes, including his three wins, not forgetting his three second-places. One of those was a playoff loss to Majestics GC Ian Poulter in 2004 at the Volvo Masters, as he goes in search of another trophy at “The Augusta of Europe.”
The 44-year-old is at the helm of guiding the Fireballs to hopefully lift the coveted LIV Golf Andalucía title in his home country, supported by his youthful team mates.
“Even though I am the oldest and pretty much double their ages, you always learn from them.
“I not only try to help them, but at the same time you see some of the things they do and try to pick on those and it’s always fun to be a part of that and see the potential they have and see them develop.”
Wise words from mentor, sénior Garcia.
Main image: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
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