The defending champion at Valderrama, Sergio Garcia, feels at home on the stage of the 1997 Ryder Cup. These are his impressions before starting his journey at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters:
“Everyone knows this is my favorite course and it’s always nice to come back to Spain and our event at Valderrama. I will try to play my best, get a good feeling and have a good week to put us in a position to win again.”
“I despaired a little bit after coming second several times and when they announced that 2011 would be the last edition of the tournament I was sad to think that I had not won. I remember the victory that year with a lot of gratitude.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s not been a good year. I haven’t won, but I’ve had good tournaments. We’ve had three or four weeks with not very good feelings, but I’m working to improve which is the only thing I can do and hope we can turn the tables this week, not only for this tournament but also for the British and everything after that.”
“All of us players always try to play our best to enjoy our sport and make it bigger. The more and better Spanish players there are, the better. People may think it’s easy to play on the PGA Tour, but it’s not like that at all. There the rivalry is stronger than in Europe if possible and you are far away from home, you have to be very mentally prepared. I’m sure we’ll soon have more Spaniards there.
“There are courses where you know what shot you have to hit, then it’s a matter of getting it, but having it clear helps a lot. Valderrama is good for me because I know how to play it”.
“The beauty of this sport is that the fields are different. It’s not like tennis, where you know that Nadal will be on clay, Federer on grass or Djokovic on hard court. Here no two fields are the same and everything depends more on personal feelings”.
“It’s not very windy and the greens are fast, hard and with a little breeze it gets complicated. I think the winning score could be between 4 and 7 or 8 under par. The course is in very good condition and you have to hit it very well to leave it close.”
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