The history of the Real Club Valderrama Open de España-Fundación Sergio García, which will take place from April 14 to 17, has many anecdotes, records and curiosities. The fact that the youngest and oldest winners of the tournament are Spaniards -Sergio García and Miguel Ángel Jiménez- or the fact that the record number of holes in a playoff on the European Tour -nine- has been equaled are just some of them.
At the age of 22 years and 109 days, Sergio Garcia won the Spanish Open held at El Cortijo (Las Palmas) in 2002. With his fourth title as a professional, Garcia set the record for earliness in the tournament as the youngest winner since it was included in the official European Tour calendar in 1972. On the opposite side, Miguel Ángel Jiménez won at the PGA Catalunya Resort in 2014 at the age of 50 years and 133 days, in his twenty-first victory on the European Tour with which he set the record for the oldest winner, fulfilling a dream he had pursued in 27 editions.
Jimenez won the title on the first playoff hole with Richard Green and Thomas Pieters. It was the tenth occasion in which the tournament was decided in a play-off since 1972. Antonio Garrido beat Valentín Barrios in 1972; Eduardo Romero beat Severiano Ballesteros in 1991; Mark James beat Greg Norman in 1997; Kenneth Ferrie beat Peter Hedblom and Peter Lawrie in 2003; Peter Hanson beat Peter Gustafsson in 2005; Niclas Fasth beat John Bickerton in 2006; Peter Lawrie beat Ignacio Garrido in 2008 and Álvaro Quirós beat James Morrison in 2010. Special mention should be made of the 2013 playoff at the 18th hole of El Saler, which pitted Raphaël Jacquelin, Felipe Aguilar and Maximilian Kieffer against each other. The Chilean was eliminated after the third hole, but Jacquelin and Kieffer prolonged the battle until the Frenchman won on the ninth hole of the play-off, equaling the European Tour record.
In the list of winners of the Real Club Valderrama Open de España-Fundación Sergio García there are two amateur players, the only ones who have managed to win since its inception in 1912. They are Mario Gonzalez, who won in 1947 and the Count of Lamaze in 1955. The record of victories is held by Ángel de la Torre with five (1916, 1917, 1919, 1923, 1925), followed by Mariano Provencio with four (1934, 1941, 1943 and 1951) and Arnaud Massy with three (1912, 1927 and 1928); Gabriel González (1932, 1933, and 1942); Marcelino Morcillo (1946, 1948 and 1949); Sebastián Miguel (1954, 1960 and 1967); Max Faulkner (1952, 1953 and 1957) and Severiano Ballesteros (1981, 1985 and 1995).
In the history of the tournament, there has only been one player who dominated the event from start to finish, Neil Coles, in 1973. The best winning round of 62 strokes was by Bernhard Langer in 1984, in what has been the greatest final recovery to win, 7 strokes. However, the largest margin of victory was by Sam Torrance in 1982, when he took 8 strokes off Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Roger Chapman, tied for second place.
The record is also the lowest winning score, 266 strokes (-22), signed by Kenneth Ferrie (champion in a playoff), Peter Hedblom and Peter Lawrie in 2003. The highest cumulative score was in 1972, when Antonio Garrido beat Valentín Barrios in a playoff after finishing tied at 293 strokes (+1). The lowest cut took place in the 2003 edition, with 138 strokes (-6), while the highest was in 1987 with 153 (+9). Only the winner of the tournament that year, Nick Faldo 286 (-2), managed to finish under par at the end of the four rounds at RC Las Brisas.
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