Sergio Garcia played host to the LIV Golf Valderrama in Spain
LIV Golf Spain, 8th of the 14 LIV Golf events scheduled for 2023 and the first one in Continental Europe, threw up some fireworks. Crowd interest was generated by the two all-Spanish teams – one led by Spanish superstar Sergio Garcia and the other by Chilean Joaquin Niemann.
American Talor Gooch who has already notched up two wins this season, held off major champions Bryson de Chambeau and Dustin Johnson in the leaders’ group to notch up his 3rd victory this year and take home his 3rd US$4 million cheque !
Anirban Lahiri, now based in Dubai, who is playing his second season with LIV Golf on Bryson de Chambeau’s team ( Crushers) started promisingly with 68 but struggled on the final two days with 78-75 to end 38th individually while his team finished a creditable 3rd.
The tournament venue was the famous Valderrama GC in Southern Spain which held the 1997 Ryder Cup and is regarded as one of the most celebrated courses in Europe. Lahiri even compared Valderamma to the Delhi Golf Club after Rd 1 saying, “One of my favourite tracks back home in India is Delhi Golf Club, which is probably even more brutal than this”. “That’s not a slight on Valderrama. I think the challenge here is more 360 degrees, like every part of your game. Delhi Golf Club is probably more off the tee than anything else. But I love it when you have five-yard targets and you have really small windows and you have to focus and execute shots.” “I think it gets me excited, and I think I get in a good mental space, and I think that’s kind of what happened today because I was out of position a few times, and I managed to get up-and-down. I just stayed calm. Very happy.”
For his individual performance, Lahiri earned US$140,000 plus US$125,000 for his team’s 3rd place finish with Bryson DeChambeau, Charles Howell III, and Paul Casey.
As of now, Lahiri stands 21st on the LIV tour’s Order of Merit – https://www.livgolf.com/standings-2023.
The LIV Golf Tour will now head to The Centurion Club, on the outskirts of London from July 7-9 where the LIV Tour’s first ever event in June, 2022, was held.
Credits:-
Photo – LIV Golf