Legion XIII favourites at LIV Golf Andalucia with much at stake

A view of the Real Club Valderrama course which is all set to host LIV Golf Andalucia, the 10^th event of the season, from Friday. Image courtesy livgolf.com.

By Rahul Banerji

Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII will start as one of the favourites at LIV Golf Andalucia, the 10^th leg of the season which tees off at the Real Club Valderrama on Friday.

With the 2024 season well into its second phase, the stakes are increasingly higher both for team as well as for the 54-strong field at the $25 million event that offers $4 million to the winner and $3 million to the best-finishing team.

The iconic venue at Spain’s Sotogrande near Cádiz is a 7,010-yard, par-71 course and will be hosting a LIV Golf League event for a second year running.

Legion XIII are expected to be amongst the heavy favourites having topped the last event at Nashville, their third win in what is a launch season for the all-Spanish side, livgolf.com said.

Adding weight to their challenge will be team member Tyrrell Hatton’s individual title at Nashville, while Rahm has been one of the most consistent performers of the season and is overdue for a win of his own.

“It’s always special to go back to Valderrama,” said Rahm, born in the Basque town of Barrika.

“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.”

Tightening races

Rahm and Hatton are currently second and third, respectively, behind Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann (152.40 points)  in the individual standings.

Rahm has so far picked up 116.7 points with five top five finishes while Hatton climbed to third on 95.49 points with his Nashville win and three other top 10 placings.

Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers, the 2023 champions, lead the team points standings after the first nine events on 137.50 points and have seen their advantage steadily chipped away at after two early wins.

Legion XIII are second with 128 points and Torque third on 107.

Torque are also the defending team titlists at Andalucía while Talor Gooch, now with Smash GC, won the Valderrama last year while playing for RangeGoats GC by a stroke from DeChambeau.

As a sub-plot 16 players in the field will compete in The Open at Royal Troon, the final major of 2024 and after DeChambeau’s US Open victory, the other 15 will be keen to make a mark as well.

Star power

In between, double senior major winner this year, Richard Bland of the Cleeks, will make his first start after his US Senior Open victory that followed the PGA Senior Championship.

All four Spanish-born Legion XIII players, including first-year member Rahm, will have plenty of support this week as they compete in front of their home fans.

Rahm, a two-time major winner and captain of the Legionnaires, will be making his first start at Valderrama since joining LIV Golf in the offseason.

Fireballs skipper and major winner Sergio Garcia and teammates David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra competed in Andalucía last year when LIV Golf first visited their home country Spain.

Both took top 10 finishes, Puig in a share of fifth and Garcia tied for tenth place.

Garcia is an honorary Valderrama member and calls it his most favoured golf course in the world.

Deserving venue

“Valderrama has deserved this kind of event and this kind of field for a long, long time,” said Garcia, who has won thrice at the venue.

Real Club Valderrama has hosted numerous professional events, including the 1997 Ryder Cup and was originally designed by 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 and has turned it into was is the “Augusta of Europe” for its challenging nature and immaculate maintenance.

The course has 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.

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