The setting of the Andalucía Valderrama Masters, to be held from October 18 to 21 with the sponsorship of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Andalusian Government, is one of the most difficult courses in Europe. Its narrow fairways, well flanked by cork oaks; its small, firm and fast greens, and the usual wind of the area, permanently haunt the player. Until the last shot, on the last hole, there is no certain victory at Valderrama.
The hardness of the San Roque course has led over the years to the most exciting battles for the victory, especially when the road to glory was extended beyond the 72 regulatory holes. Only on six occasions out of the 21 European Tour tournaments hosted by the Real Club Valderrama, in addition to the Ryder Cup, the victory was decided in playoffs.
Scottish duel
The first of these was between Sandy Lyle and Colin Montgomerie at the 1992 Volvo Masters. Lyle started the final day in the lead, four strokes ahead of “Monty”, who forced the playoff with a great card of 69 strokes.
The Scots were co-leading the tournament until Lyle three-putted for bogey on the 14th hole. He recovered with a birdie on the 15th and on the 17th, a stroke of luck allowed him to keep his chances as he miraculously saved par after his ball hit a tree out of bounds and went back into the rough.
On the 18th it remained even (287 strokes +3) and on the first playoff hole, Lyle started with a perfect tee shot. Monty tried to hit a fade into the wind from left to right, but the ball hit a tree and stopped short. He was unable to make up for the mistake and signed a bogey.
It was Lyle’s last victory on the European Tour, his 18th. For Montgomerie, the Volvo Masters had a place of honor in its history, as the following year he began a sequence of seven consecutive years in which he won the Order of Merit.
Jimenez and Tiger, face to face
Among the most remembered tiebreakers at Valderrama is the one between Miguel Angel Jimenez and Tiger Woods in the 1999 WGC-American Express Championship, when the local hero had the absolute king of world golf in his hands.
Going into the final round, Tiger had a three-stroke lead with three holes to go. Nothing seemed to slow his determined pace towards his eighth victory of the season. But then he made a bogey on the 16th and on the 17th, he needed 8 strokes to complete the hole. That triple bogey on the legendary par five of Valderrama turned the tournament around and put Miguel Angel Jimenez in the fight, who stood on the 18th tee leading by one stroke.
The Malaga-born player, the flamboyant winner of the Volvo Masters the previous week in Montecastillo, failed on the last hole and the world number one did not forgive in the playoff (278 strokes -6). He gave an impeccable tee shot and took the tournament with a birdie that left the thousands of Spanish fans with honey on their lips.
A handshake at dusk
The playoff between Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie at the 2002 Volvo Masters went down in history for something unusual: the players agreed to share the victory at nightfall over Valderrama.
Langer and Montgomerie finished the tournament with 281 strokes (-3) after turning in cards of 67 and 70 strokes respectively, but the playoff was delayed because a video review was needed to clarify a Montgomerie incident on the 10th hole. It was thought he may have hit a moving ball, which would have resulted in a two-stroke penalty. Ultimately, it was determined that there was no infraction so the tournament was to be decided in a playoff.
Both made par on the first extra hole and played the second in poor visibility. The two European golf heavyweights tied again and kept the match in a draw.
Again on the 18th tee and in the absence of light, the executive director of the European Tour, Ken Schofield, proposed that they share the prize. A brief exchange of words and a handshake was enough to seal the tie, curiously, the second in Langer’s career. The German had already shared victory with Severiano Ballesteros, for similar reasons, in the 1986 Lancôme Trophy, after four play-off holes.
Valderrama’s most agonizing duel
A year later, in the 2003 Volvo Masters, the Swede Fredrik Jacobson and the Spaniard Carlos Rodiles, played the longest and most agonizing duel at Valderrama. That day they played 28 holes: six of the third day, suspended due to rain, 18 of the fourth and four more of the playoff. An epic duel in which victory eluded the illusions of the player and the Spanish fans.
The sequence of the last holes reflects the enormous tension that was experienced at Valderrama. They were tied at the 16th, where Rodiles made a bogey. On the 17th, always decisive, he recovered a stroke while Jacobson signed a double bogey after sending his ball into the water. The Malaga-born player came out at the 18th with a two-stroke lead to secure the victory, but the pressure and the complicated final par four of the course affected his game and he made a bogey, while his rival forced the playoff with a sensational birdie (276 strokes -12). Rodiles had a chance to win the first three sudden death holes, but he was not accurate with the putt and Swede took advantage of his mistake at the start of the fourth and last playoff hole.
Poulter in match play mode
The 2004 Volvo Masters Andalucia was also decided in a head-to-head match between Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter (277 strokes -11). Sergio had had the tournament in his hands shortly before, as he missed two birdie putts on the 17th and 18th that would have given him the victory. That bad feeling of having let slip an almost won victory took its toll on him in the first and last hole of the play-off, as the player from Castellón, after a bad start, could only make a bogey. Poulter, the great specialist in head-to-head matches, won the tournament to the disappointment of the local fans. Years later, Sergio would settle the debt with the course, winning the Andalucía Valderrama Masters 2011 and 2017.
A three-way fight
The last playoff held at Valderrama took place in 2007 and pitted Englishmen Justin Rose and Simon Dyson against Denmark’s Søren Kjeldsen (283 strokes -1). Rose had started the last day at the top of the leaderboard with a four-stroke lead, but suffered more than expected to take the victory. A terrible sequence of double bogey at the 11th, bogey at the 12th and bogey at the 13th, forced him to seek victory in a three-way playoff.
The three players tied on the first hole, but Rose made a sensational birdie on the second hole, the 10th, to win the tournament and the season’s Order of Merit.
Tickets for the Andalucía Valderrama Masters-Sergio García Foundation available at: TICKETS
Admission is free for children under 14 years of age when accompanied by an adult.
The Andalucía Valderrama Masters, tournament valid for the Race to Dubai, is sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Andalusian Government and the collaboration of the European Union (European Regional Development Fund), La Reserva de Sotogrande, Rolex, Heineken, Dubai Duty Free, Shell, Exterior Plus and Santander Private Banking.
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