Spanish star Sergio Garcia’s love affair with Real Club Valderrama began as a teenager. Call it a wildly successful relationship.

In 15 professional starts at Valderrama, Garcia has 14 top-10 finishes, including wins in three consecutive starts (2011, 2016, 2017 at the Andalucía Masters), along with three second-place results. One of those was a playoff loss to Ian Poulter in 2004 at the Volvo Masters.

This week at LIV Golf Valderrama, he returns to the course that’s generally considered as the finest in continental Europe and one of the best in the world. As the captain of Fireballs GC, the 43-year-old Garcia would love nothing better than to hoist two trophies on Sunday – one as the individual winner, the other for the team title.

Here are a few thoughts from Garcia on his favourite course.

Q: When was the first time you played Valderrama?

SERGIO GARCIA: “I was probably 13, I would say. Probably like Spain versus England, some kind of match like that.”

Q: Did you know right away that it was the course for you?

GARCIA: “Yeah, from the beginning, from the first time I played. Just amazing shape. It was love at first shot. I love Valderrama.”

Q: What is it about Valderrama that you enjoy?

GARCIA: “It’s my favourite golf course in the world, but some guys don’t like it. For me, I just love that even though it’s not a long course – it’s a 7,000-yard, par 71 – it makes you think, and it makes you hit every club in the bag. That’s something I think good courses do. Good courses are asking you to think about what you want to do and, and they’re making you hit pretty much every club you have in the bag. And I love that kind of design – tight, trees, doglegs, small greens. It’s the kind of design that I’ve always envisioned in my mind when I was going to do golf course design. I just love it.”

Q: What’s the key to success at Valderrama?

GARCIA: “You have to think your way around it well. It’s the kind of golf course that you have to be very patient, you have to put the ball in the right spots. And if you manage to do that, then you can score. But if you don’t, it’s a grind. To me, it’s the kind of golf course that could hold a major championship easily because you can make it play as tough as you want if the weather is good.”

Q: Do you have a favourite hole?

GARCIA: “Hmm, good question. I think the fourth hole [564-yard par 5] is great. I love 12 [212-yard par 3]. I think it’s a great par 3. All of the par 3s are amazing.”

Q: What is it about No. 4 that you like?

GARCIA: “It’s just a solid par 5, Like I was saying, it makes you think. If you hit a good tee shot, you can go for it, but there’s not a lot of room, so you have to be very precise with your second shot. Obviously a lot of danger right. And if you miss it left, it doesn’t leave you a lot of options with the chips. So it’s just a matter of how close from the green you lay up, depending where the flag is. And it’s a beautiful hole, with the water and the little waterfall behind it and everything. It’s very picturesque.”

Q: On the flip side, which hole has been the most challenging for you?

GARCIA: “I feel like seven [490-yard par 4] is always a tough hole. It’s a difficult fairway to hit, and the wind is usually blowing from the left, and it cambers from left to right. Seven is probably one of the toughest holes that you get out there. But if it gets firm and there’s a little bit of wind, like it usually does there, every hole is asking you for some good shots.”

The post Sergio on Valderrama: ‘It was love at first shot’ appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT

When: June 30-July 2, 2023
Where: Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Cadiz, Spain
Competition: 54 holes of stroke play
Field: 48 players/12 teams
Purse: US$25 million ($20 million individual, $5 million team)
Winner’s Share: US$4 million (individual), $3 million (team)
Local tee time: Shotgun starts for Rds. 1-2 at 1:15 p.m. ET, Rd. 3 at 1:05 p.m.

KEY STORYLINES

• LIV Golf makes its first appearance in Continental Europe at the world-renowned Real Club Valderrama in Spain
• Valderrama hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup, as well as numerous elite professional events, and is considered the Augusta of Europe
• Spanish star Sergio Garcia, the captain of Fireballs GC, was born in Borriol, Castellón, and has three professional wins at Valderrama and seven pro wins in his native country
• The other two Spanish-born players on the LIV Golf League roster each turned pro in 2022 – 23-year-old Eugenio Chacarra (born in Madrid) and 21-year-old David Puig (born in La Garriga, Barcelona). Puig is the League’s youngest player.
• Garcia’s Fireballs GC includes Chacarra and Mexican stars Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz. The Fireballs are one of two Spanish-speaking teams along with Puig’s Torque GC captained by Chilean Joaquin Niemann.
• The LIV Golf League comes off its highest-attended American event, LIV Golf DC
• DC winner Harold Varner III is the sixth different individual champion in 2023, while Torque GC claimed its second team trophy of the season
• 15 LIV Golf members who played in the recent U.S. Open will be in the 48-man field, including solo fourth finisher Cameron Smith

ABOUT THE COURSE

REAL CLUB VALDERRAMA
Sotogrande, Cádiz, Spain
Par: 71
Yardage: 7,010
Ranked among the top courses in the world and No. 1 in Europe, Real Club Valderrama has hosted numerous professional events, including the 1997 Ryder Cup – the first time the event had been held in Continental Europe
Valderrama was originally designed by famed golf architect Robert Trent Jones in 1974. Jones was brought back to work on the course when Jaime Ortiz-Patiño bought the course in the mid-1980s
Valderrama is widely considered to be the “Augusta of Europe” for its championship pedigree and immaculate maintenance
The golf club is one of two in Europe to be awarded the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program Certification for its commitment to conserving and restoring natural ecosystems
The course will have four par-4 holes under 400 yards; the longest par 3 is 225 yards, the longest par 4 is 490 yards and the longest par 5 is 564 yards
The 564-yard par-5 fourth, known as La Cascada, has a pond to the right of a two-tiered green
The memorable 536-yard par-5 17th provides a natural amphitheatre for fans and offers players a challenging green guarded by water in the front left and bunkers in the back
German star Bernhard Langer owns the course record at 9-under 62 shot in 1994
Green types: Bermuda Tifway 419 on fairways and rough; T1 Creeping Bentgrass on greens.

HOW TO WATCH

United States: The CW Network airs the LIV Golf League in 100% of U.S. markets.
Friday: Live on The CW App, LIV Golf Plus and LIV Golf YouTube
Saturday and Sunday: Live on The CW App, LIV Golf Plus and LIV Golf YouTube. Tape delayed on the CW starting at 1 p.m. ET.
Global: Broadcast in over 160 international territories Live and On-Demand, free of charge, via LIV Golf Plus. Available for download on iOS, Android, FireTV, and on LIVGolfPlus.com. Also airing on 12 international broadcast partners and counting.

The post An early glance at LIV Golf Valderrama, the eighth of 14 tournaments in the 2023 LIV Golf League season appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.