Defending champion Sergio Garcia is looking ahead to another special week in a place that he loves, as he returns to Real Club Valderrama just three weeks after becoming Europe’s all-time Ryder Cup points scorer.

He is aiming for a third Andalucia Valderrama Masters title, after also winning here in 2011, but it is a week that is about more than just golf for the 2017 Masters Tournament champion, as the event is hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation for the second successive year.

There’s a distinct Ryder Cup feel at Real Club Valderrama as Garcia is joined in the field by Thomas Bjørn, the man who led Europe to a 17.5-10.5 win over the United States in the week that the Spaniard overtook Sir Nick Faldo at the top of the points list.

Bjørn’s own Ryder Cup journey comes full circle this week as he returns to the venue where he made his debut in 1997 as part of the team – captained by the late, great Seve Ballesteros – which won the first of the biennial events to be held in continental Europe. 

The theme continues with three of the Dane’s Vice-Captains - Padraig Harrington, Robert Karlsson and Lee Westwood – all in the field, alongside 2012 winning Captain José María Olazábal. One of the Spaniard’s ‘Miracle of Medinah’ stars, Peter Hanson, is also joined by Stephen Gallacher and Edoardo Molinari, who both featured in winning sides in 2014 and 2010 respectively.

Valderrama will also be the battleground for the players who are seeking to maintain their playing privileges for the 2019 season, with players within the top 116 players at the end of this week (taking into account the six Affiliate Members currently inside the top 110) retaining their European Tour cards. Players who are on the bubble going into the week include four-time European Tour winners David Horsey of England and Italian Matteo Manassero, and Scottish pair Richie Ramsay and Marc Warren, who each have three European Tour titles.

Player quotes

Sergio Garcia: “It’s always great to come to Valderrama, and hopefully I can keep up the good work of the last six weeks so I can give myself a chance to defend the title.

“I love the way this course plays, I love how tough it is even though it's not a long golf course. It's just testing you and every part of your game, which is always good fun. The course condition is spectacular and the greens are rolling incredibly fast and true. Valderrama should be really proud.

“Being the record points scorer in the Ryder Cup is not something that I had in my mind, but it’s very nice to be on top of that list in front of all those amazing players and it means a lot. I know how much it means and I hope that everybody realises how difficult it is, so I’m very proud of that.

“I have played nine Ryder Cups, which is an achievement in itself, and I have played effectively, but I must give credit to my partners that helped me get the points, because I had great four ball and foursomes’ partners. But the main goal is helping the team.”

Thomas Bjørn: “It’s always nice to come back here. It was such a special week that one, in the sense of Seve and the way the week unfolded.

“If I had to choose a moment in the 1997 Ryder Cup, for me it was moment when I walked into that team room for the first time and I saw who was actually in that room. When you realize that you are playing in a team with Faldo and Monty, Langer and Woosie, Ollie and then Seve as a Captain, you realise that your career is going in a direction pretty fast where you are going to places you never thought you’d be, and that moment is quite big for any young player.

“The practice I’ve done over the last six months doesn’t really allow me to look at this tournament in a competitive way. I wanted to be here for Sergio, I wanted to be here for his Foundation and for all the things he’s done for golf and for me. It was a pretty unique situation for Sergio to become the all-time scorer and that’s something pretty cool to be part of.”

Sergio García will lead the Spanish contingent next Thursday as the Andalucía Valderrama Masters gets underway with the support of the Council of Tourism and Sport of the Junta de Andalucía. Tournament host García is set to defend the title he won last year, in the wake of becoming the all-time European Ryder Cup points leader in Paris last month.

He will be joined by double Masters winner José María Olazábal (1994 and 1999), as well as compatriots Pep Anglés, Jorge Campillo, Alejandro Cañizares, Nacho Elvira, Scott Fernández, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Sebastián García, Ángel Hidalgo, Pablo Larrazábal, Pedro Oriol, Carlos Pigem, Álvaro Quirós, Eduardo de la Riva, Santiago Tarrio and Samuel del Val.

There is much at stake in this Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio García Foundation, the last European Tour event of the season to be played in European soil, with a prize fund of two million euro. For Jorge Campillo it will be the opportunity to cap off a great season. After six top-5 and ten top-20 finishes, Campillo is seen as a strong challenger for the title. Nacho Elvira and Pablo Larrazábal will look to consolidate their position inside Europe’s top 60 in order to secure their spot at the Race to Dubai’s final event.

Other participants, such as Alejandro Cañizares, Scott Fernández, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Pedro Oriol or Álvaro Quirós, will need a great performance this week to keep their playing rights. In any case, it will be a crucial week for the home contingent as they enjoy the full support of thousands of Spanish fans.

One of the more excited participants ahead of the event is sure to be a young player from Málaga, Angel Hidalgo, who makes his professional debut invited by the organizers after a great amateur career: 2016 International Spanish Champion sub-18, 2017 Europe Team Champion, 2016 and 2018 Spanish Champion. Hidalgo turned professional this month.  

A very special Pro-Am

The Andalucía Valderrama Masters Pro-Am will be an unforgettable experience for a group of young promising golfers from Andalucía. The Andalusian Golf Federation, one of the tournament sponsors, has offered six spots in the Pro-Am to the current boy and girl champions of Andalusia by age groups. These kids that train and dream of becoming top golfers will have a chance to share a round with their heroes on Wednesday.

Other young fans at tomorrow’s Pro-Am will be pupils from Club de Golf La Cañada’s Junior Golf School. A total of 30 pupils divided into groups will follow the Spanish pros.

Healthy golf - Walk & Win

Spectators attending the Andalucía Valderrama Masters on Saturday are invited to join the Walk & Win event, a ground-breaking European Tour initiative supported by QuirónSalud with the purpose of promoting healthy lifestyle habits amongst golf fans.

Every spectator will be offered a Walk & Win participation card at the entrance of Real Club Valderrama. In order to participate, they must follow the established route as they enjoy watching the action. They will have their card stamped when they pass by the 5th hole and again on the 13th, and will eventually hand it in at the QuirónSalud tent after having walked a total of over three and a half miles.

Tickets for the 2018 Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation start at €15 for the Pro-Am on Wednesday October 17, €20 for Thursday and Friday and €30 on Saturday and Sunday. Children aged under 14 are admitted to the event free of charge when accompanied by a ticket holding adult. Tickets are available now HERE

The Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio García Foundation is sponsored by the Council of Tourism and Sport of the Junta de Andalucía through the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union, with the added institutional support of the Diputación de Cádiz, the San Roque City Council, the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation and the Marbella City Council. It also enjoys the support of La Reserva de Sotogrande, Rolex, Heineken, Dubai Duty Free, Santander Private Banking, Shell, Exterior Plus and Samsic Iberia. Only Water, Grupo Hospitalario Quirónsalud, Coca-Cola, Varma, Korporate Technologies Group and Volvo are official suppliers.

Three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington has become the latest addition to the field at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation, as the Irishman targets a place in the final Rolex Series events of the 2018 Race to Dubai.

Harrington has been on a strong run of form of late, with three top tens in his past five events, and he made a late decision to travel to the Andalucia region of Spain in order to build on that momentum on a golf course upon which he has enjoyed some strong results.

The Dubliner has a string of good performances at the famous venue of The 1997 Ryder Cup, including a runner-up finish in the Volvo Masters in 1999 and a top five in the 2000 WGC-American Express Championship.

Having registered a top 30 finish last year as his fellow Major winner Sergio Garcia claimed a glorious victory, Harrington is relishing the opportunity to return to the renowned Robert Trent Jones Sr-designed course.

“Valderrama is one of the best golf courses we have in Europe,” said Harrington, who was one of the five Vice Captains in the winning European team for The 2018 Ryder Cup. “It’s a great tournament venue and a really good course to play.

“I’m just outside the automatic qualifying spots for the Turkish Airlines Open, so I need to make a few more points to get to Turkey. So it’s a great opportunity for me to go to a course I’m very familiar with, and get a bit of sun on my back too, so I’m looking forward to it.

“My form has been good, so hopefully I can take that form into the week, because I certainly need a decent performance. I thought I would finish better at Walton Heath but I left a few shots out on the golf course. Hopefully I can play well this week at Valderrama and get the points that I need.”

Last year, Garcia delighted Spanish fans with an emotional victory in Sotogrande, as he sealed his third win of the season to add to his maiden Major title at Augusta National as well as the Omega Dubai Desert Classic trophy.

Garcia will return to defend his title as he plays for the first time since becoming the record points-scorer in The Ryder Cup, beating Sir Nick Faldo's record by a half a point with a total of 25.5.

Harrington also joins the victorious 2018 Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn in the field, as well as two more of the Vice Captains - 23-time European Tour winner Lee Westwood and another former European Tour Number One Robert Karlsson.

This year’s tournament, which takes place from October 18-21, will once again be sponsored by the Autonomous Government of Andalusia with the support of the Sergio Garcia Foundation.

The Spaniard set up his charitable foundation in 2002 for the purpose of contributing to the social inclusion of economically-deprived children through social assistance benefits and the practice of sport as free-time activity.

Tickets for the 2018 Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation start at €15 for the Pro-Am on Wednesday October 17, €20 for Thursday and Friday and €30 on Saturday and Sunday. Children aged under 14 are admitted to the event free of charge when accompanied by a ticket holding adult. Tickets are available now HERE

The Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio García Foundation is sponsored by the Council of Tourism and Sport of the Junta de Andalucía through the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union, with the added institutional support of the Diputación de Cádiz, the San Roque City Council and the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation. It also enjoys the support of La Reserva de Sotogrande, Rolex, Heineken, Dubai Duty Free, Santander Private Banking, Shell, Exterior Plus and Samsic Iberia. Only Water, Grupo Hospitalario Quirónsalud, Coca-Cola, Varma and Korporate Technologies Group are official suppliers.

Victorious Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn will be reunited with Europe’s all-time leading Ryder Cup points scorer when he tees it up at the Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation on October 18-21, 2018.

Bjørn will join defending champion Garcia at Real Club Valderrama just three weeks after captaining Europe to a 17.5 – 10.5 win over the United States in Paris, where the 2017 Masters Tournament winner overtook Sir Nick Faldo at the top of the European points list.

As well as seeing Bjørn and Garcia in action, fans will also have the opportunity to get up close to the famous Ryder Cup trophy, which will be on site throughout tournament week.

It will be a third appearance at the Andalucía Valderrama Masters for the Dane, who has an impressive record at the event, finishing in fifth position in 2010, followed by a 15^th place finish the following year. Real Club Valderrama has added significance as the venue where Bjørn made his Ryder Cup debut in 1997 as part of the team – captained by the late, great Seve Ballesteros – which won the first of the biennial events to be held in continental Europe. 

Bjørn said: “This is a tournament where I have played well in the past and I’m looking forward to coming back to Real Club Valderrama next week. It’s a place that holds Ryder Cup memories for so many people, myself included, and it will be quite special to see the trophy back where I made my debut as a player.

“It will be great to be a part of what is a big week for Sergio both as host and defending champion, as he returns to home soil after making Ryder Cup history. The last few weeks have been a lot of fun for all of us involved in the win at Le Golf National, and now I’m looking forward to playing golf in this fantastic venue again.”

Tickets for the 2018 Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio García Foundation are available HERE. Children under 14 are admitted to the event free of charge when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.

The Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio García Foundation is sponsored by the Council of Tourism and Sport of the Junta de Andalucía through the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union, with the added institutional support of the Diputación de Cádiz, the San Roque City Council and the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation. It also enjoys the support of La Reserva de Sotogrande, Rolex, Heineken, Dubai Duty Free, Santander Private Banking, Shell, Exterior Plus and Samsic Iberia. Only Water, Grupo Hospitalario Quirónsalud, Coca-Cola, Varma and Korporate Technologies Group are official suppliers.