On an incredible day for the nation of Spain, captain Sergio García and his Fireballs GC produced a nail-biting finish for their Spanish fans on home soil at LIV Golf Andalucía.
Garcia rallied from seven strokes down to win his first LIV Golf individual title on the second sudden-death playoff hole against Crushers GC’s Anirban Lahiri. This makes for an incredible success rate in Andalucia for Garcia, who has notched three wins at Valderrama. Meanwhile, teammates Abraham Ancer and David Puig beat the Crushers duo of captain Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey in the team aggregate-score playoff as the Fireballs – with three Spaniards on the roster – swept both trophies at Real Club Valderrama.
Garcia won for the first time in LIV Golf after three previous playoff losses. He has now finished inside the top 10 in 16 of his 17 starts, which made the victory even more special.
“To be totally honest, there’s a connection between Valderrama and myself that I can’t even explain,” said the 44-year-old Garcia, who ended a four-year winless drought while winning his 37th professional title.
Garcia and Lahiri each parred their first playoff hole. Meanwhile, in the team playoff right behind them, DeChambeau found trouble off the 18th tee, he bogeyed the hole while Abe Ancer and David Puig made easy pars to claim the Fireballs’ first team victory of the season.
Garcia’s victory in the individual title and subsequent Fireballs GC team win was followed by a win at the EUROS for Spain’s football team against England with a 2-1 victory, as well as a Wimbledon title for 21-year-old Carlos Alcatraz, also a Spanish athlete.