Garcia wins back-to-back at Valderamma

Sergio Garcia.

Sergio Garcia made it back-to-back victories on the European Tour by winning the Andalucia Masters at Valderamma.

The Spaniard carded a final round of 71 to defeat fellow countryman Miguel Angel Jimenez by one shot. Scotland’s Richie Ramsey finished a further shot back in third while Irishman Shane Lowry finished alone in fourth.

Garcia ended a three-year title drought last weekend with an emphatic 11-shot victory at the Castello Masters and has now climbed inside the top-20 of the world golf rankings with his latest win and moved up to seventh in the Race to Dubai

“It’s very, very special,” said the 31-year-old, who has had three runner-up finishes at Valderrama prior to this week.

“I have so much history here and unfortunately it wasn’t as good as this until now! I’ve been in contention three or four times on this course. It wasn’t easy, but I believed in my ability.”

Garcia started nervously, bogeying two of his first seven holes to fall behind Jimenez but recovered to lead by three shots with three holes to play.

Jimenez then birdied 16 and 17 to reduce the deficit to just one but Garcia held his nerve on the 18th, playing a delightful chip to four feet and converting for the win.

“Miguel fought so hard and had some good chances coming in – 17 for eagle and 18 for birdie. I wasn’t as good as probably the last 13 days, but we hung on and managed to pull through.”

Garcia has had his troubles in recent years, taking a break from the game to recover both his technique and his mind and has experienced a resurgence in form this year, making the cut in all four majors, including two top-ten finishes.

“I knew that I had game, because I had it before, but obviously, when your head is not in the right spot it doesn’t matter how much game you have, your muscles won’t listen.
I’m just happy with my year. We all know how difficult golf is. This is a working process, I’ll keep working on it, and trying hard and enjoying it.”

His win at Valderamma also earns him a place at the final WGC event of the year next week, the Champions tournament in Shanghai. Pick your Fantasy team for the event here.

Andalucia Masters final leaderboard
-6: S Garcia (Sp) -5: MA Jimenez (Sp) -4: R Ramsay (Sco) -3: S Lowry (Ire) -2: S Webster (Eng) -1: G Havret (Fra) Par: A Canizares (Sp), C Nilsson (Swe)