From a Correspondent
Sotogrande, Spain: Three-time Valderrama winner Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and Washington winner Harold Varner III tee off on hole 1 at LIV Golf Andalucía on Friday.
Pairings were announced on Wednesday for Round 1 at Valderrama, with the shotgun start set for 1:15 p.m. local time (4:45 pm IST, live coverage on LIV Golf channel).
Spanish star Garcia has finished in the top 10 in 14 of his 15 starts on his favourite course. Mickelson returns for the first time since he played a World Golf Championship event in Valderrama in 1999.
Incidentally, the six-time major winner made his Ryder Cup debut at Valderrama’s Real Cub in 1995.
Mickelson said his memories of Valderrama include Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros, who was the captain of the winning European team that beat Mickelson and the US team.
“I remember Seve leading his team and driving around the course and getting involved in what his players should do and try this shot and how creative he was,” Mickelson said on Wednesday.
“I had a lot of great memories but a lot of them are from Valderrama, and I can’t come here without thinking about him.”
Added Garcia, “It’s going to be amazing for me to host, in a way, all these amazing players here at my favourite golf course in the world and I am actually an honorary member of. Very proud of that.”
Varner won in Washington after joining LIV Golf midway through 2022 and is now sixth in the individual standings with RangeGoats teammate Talor Gooch on top.
Star cast
The starters on holes 2 and 3 are all major winners. Brooks Koepka (Smash), Bubba Watson (RangeGoats) and Patrick Reed (4Aces) are on 2, while Dustin Johnson (4Aces), Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers) and Henrik Stenson (Majesticks) start on 3.
Anirban Lahiri of the Crushers opens on tee 16 along with Dean Burmester of the Stingers and Torque’s Sebastian Munoz.
Gooch will be alongside second-placed Stinger’s Branden Grace on 18 and reigning Open champion Cameron Smith (Ripper) completes the threesome.
Young Spanish talent Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs) and David Puig (Torque) are in the group starting on 9. They are joined by Australia’s Matt Jones (Ripper).
Crushers GC’s Paul Casey, who returns to action after missing the DC event due to injury, starts on hole 7.
Other players who are back in action after withdrawing on the weekend in DC are Smash GC’s Matthew Wolff (12) and Jason Kokrak (8), along with RangeGoats’ Thomas Pieters (13)
Two of the players currently sitting in the relegation zone (45th and below in points) start on hole 10 – Chase Koepka (Smash GC) and Sihwan Kim (Iron Heads GC).
Helpful schedule
Earlier, PGA champion Brooks Koepka said the schedule had helped ensure they would be able to play all four majors of the sason.
“It’s been fantastic,” the Smash captain said. “I think you can see the way the schedule has played out how everyone has played in majors. Phil second, I got second at the Masters.
Good showing by a bunch of LIV guys at the PGA, and then the US Open, as well. I think the schedule has been fantastic. It’s definitely helped us in the preparation for the majors, as well.”
Added Dustin Johnson of 4Aces, “The schedule has been pretty good. We’ve had some breaks. There’s been some stretches where we’ve played a lot, but we’ve also had some nice breaks, too.
“I was excited to come over here. We had a week off after the US Open, and then coming over here, we’ve got a couple of weeks, and then get ready for the Open Championship. I think our schedule has been really nice.”
Mickelson, the most decorated LIV Golf member with 57 career wins turned 53 on Friday of the US Open. His best result this season is his runner-up finish at Augusta National.
“It’s been a pretty full schedule to me relative to what I was expecting it to be at 53,” the World Golf Hall of Famer said.
“Playing 19 events this year with the four majors and the 14 LIV events and playing in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, it’s been a lot of golf, but it’s been fun because there have been enough breaks in between.”
Open prospects
Mickelson, Johnson and Koepka are among 13 LIV golfers who have already secured spots at next month’s Open at Royal Liverpool.
Seventeen other League regulars, along with four of this year’s reserve players, will compete in the four qualifying events next week prior to LIV Golf London at Centurion Club.
After the Open, four regular League tournaments remain followed by the season-ending team championship, with a couple of breaks as well.
“This is really a fun month for us to be over here in Europe,” said Mickelson. “We’ve got two incredible LIV events here this week at Valderrama and next week in London before a little break to prepare for the British Open.
“I’m expecting a lot of players that aren’t in the British to qualify, and then there’s a lot of players here that will be competing.
“This will be an exciting month for the LIV players as we really make a push to the second half of our season, and it’s been a lot of fun.” (courtesy livgolf.com)
Also read: Love at first shot, recalls Garcia about Valderrama’s Real Club
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