Tour
October 22, 2018 - 9:05 am EDT 6 years ago

Garcia Wins Third Consecutive Valderrama Masters

Chris Chaney Chris Chaney

There’s something about the Ryder Cup that always seems to get Sergio Garcia going. Coming into the biennial matches last month, the 2017 Masters champion was seemingly out in the wilderness looking to discover some form, but he got right at Le Golf National going 3-1 and becoming the all-time Ryder Cup points leader.

Fresh off the European victory in Paris, Garcia made his next start at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, which he entered as the two-time defending champion. Despite poor weather forcing the event to finish on Monday after just 54 holes, Garcia picked up his third consecutive win at the event hosted by his charitable foundation. 


“It’s amazing to be able to win here at Valderrama three times – it’s a dream come true,” Garcia said, according to EuropeanTour.com. “It’s so difficult. This golf course is so challenging and for me to be able to go out there in the conditions we played in all week and shoot three rounds under par means a lot. I’m very proud of that and really excited about the week.”

Garcia entered into Monday’s third and final round with 11 holes still to play. Able to withstand an early charge from Irishman Shane Lowry, Garcia birdied two of his last five holes to win by four strokes.

“I knew the guys were going to be going after me and this golf course is the kind of course where if you’re a little bit off you can struggle, but if your game is on it gives you a lot of birdie opportunities. Obviously, Shane was playing well – he got close to me – then, unfortunately, he doubled 15 and that gave me a little bit of an extra gap, with his double and my birdie on 14 opening it to four, and we kept it there until the end so that was nice.”

With the threepeat, Garcia became the first player since Ernie Els in 2004 to win the same European Tour event three times in a row. The win was his 15th on the European Tour and 34th worldwide as a professional.