(LIV Golf) – Four Spanish-born LIV Golf players, including first-year member Jon Rahm, will have plenty of support this week as they compete in front of their home fans at LIV Golf Andalucía.
Rahm, the two-time major winner and captain of the expansion Legion XIII team, makes his first visit to Valderrama since joining LIV Golf in the offseason.
“It’s always special to go back to Valderrama,” said Rahm, born in Barrika in the Basque Country. “It’s a golf course with so much history – so much Spanish history – and I’m glad to be going back with the level of field and competition it deserves.”
Major winner Sergio Garcia, the captain of Fireballs GC, and his teammates David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra competed in Andalucía last year when LIV Golf made its first visit to their home country. Puig (T5) and Garcia (T10) finished inside the top 10.
Garcia, born in Borriol, Castellón, is an honorary member at Valderrama and calls it his favorite golf course in the world. “Valderrama has deserved this kind of event and this kind of field for a long, long time,” said Garcia, who has won three professional events at Valderrama.
ABOUT THE COURSE
REAL CLUB VALDERRAMA
Sotogrande, Cádiz, Spain
Par: 71
Yardage: 7,010
- Ranked among the top courses in the world, Real Club Valderrama has hosted numerous professional events, including last year’s LIV Golf Andalucía, along with 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 conserve and restore 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 amphitheater for fans
- Talor Gooch is the defending champion, winning last year at 12 under, one shot better than Bryson DeChambeau
- Green types: Bermuda Tifway 419 on fairways and rough; T1 Creeping Bentgrass on greens
HARDEST HOLE: 12th
Par 3 | 212 yards
2023 scoring avg: 3.340
Birdies: 11. Pars: 81. Bogeys: 45. Others: 8.
EASIEST HOLE: 17th
Par 5 | 536 yards
2023 scoring avg: 4.715
Eagles: 5. Birdies: 57. Pars: 62. Bogeys: 15. Others: 5.