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Ryder Cup, World Cup, Volvo Masters, Match Play Championships, World Golf Championships, Spanish Open, Andaluc\u00eda Masters, Seniors Match Play\u2026 Nicklaus, Woods, Faldo, Langer, Garc\u00eda, Jim\u00e9nez, Montgomerie, Lyle, Woosnam, Harrington, Rose, Westwood and Poulter are just some of the stars who have triumphed in the 70 major professionals\u2019 tournaments held in Andaluc\u00eda since 1966. <\/p>\n
Becoming one of the world\u2019s premier golf tourism destinations cannot be attributed to chance, and neither is it only due to the area being blessed with an exceptional climate and a superb range of golf courses, many of an extraordinary quality. The global visibility and consolidation of a tourist destination of this kind also has a lot to do with its media image \u2013 even more so in recent years \u2013 and that is achieved mainly by attracting leading international golf stars to compete in prominent tournaments. <\/p>\n
For nearly half a century Andaluc\u00eda has been hosting prestigious tournaments for professionals, many of them attracting the best players in the world. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Tiger Woods, Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Olaz\u00e1bal\u2026 the list is almost endless. Ryder Cup, Amex World Championships, World Cups, Volvo Masters, World Match Plays, Spanish Opens\u2026 official European and US PGA Tour events, European Senior and Challenge Tours\u2026 some of the world\u2019s most spectacular golfing extravaganzas have been held in Andaluc\u00eda. <\/p>\n
The first major international tournament held in Andaluc\u00eda was the 1966 Open de Espa\u00f1a, at one of the country\u2019s finest courses, Royal Sotogrande Golf Club. Roberto de Vicenzo carded 279 to beat Englishman Bernard Hunt. The Argentinean was a prime star of that era, and one year later, aged 44, became the oldest player to win the British Open Championship, after an exciting battle against Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. <\/p>\n
That same legendary pair \u2013 the Golden Bear and the Black Knight \u2013 were involved in another duel on Andalucian soil a few years later, the 1973 World Cup at Las Brisas, a magnificent course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. The Marbella club had previously hosted the 1970 Spanish Open won by the current vice president of the European Tour, \u00c1ngel Gallardo, who beat Neil Coles for the title. In that same tournament, the leading amateur was the man who would later become one of Spain\u2019s finest golf course designers, Jos\u00e9 Gancedo. <\/p>\n
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But returning to the World Cup\u2026 the American eventually triumphed, paired with Johnny Miller. The Americans beat Player and fellow South African Hugh Baiocchi by two shots (558-560), and the individual champion was Miller (277). <\/span><\/p>\n Six years would pass before Andaluc\u00eda hosted another international professionals\u2019 competition, once again the Spanish Open and this time at Torrequebrada in Benalm\u00e1dena, a course designed by Gancedo. The tournament was part of the modern-day European Tour, launched the previous year with the Spanish Open at Pals (Gerona), and won by Antonio Garrido \u2013 who thus became the Tour\u2019s first winner. <\/p>\n At Torrequebrada in 1979, with Spain having returned to democracy, Dale Hayes was victorious. He won \u20ac8,104 for his victory (or the equivalent at the time in pesetas) of a total prize fund of \u20ac48,593. This was a considerable increase on the previous year, when Garrido had won just \u20ac2,000 (in pesetas) of a total of \u20ac14,000. <\/p>\n Held in Andaluc\u00eda on 10 occasions (the second highest number for a professionals\u2019 event after the Volvo Masters \u2013 21 editions), the Spanish Open returned to Las Brisas in 1983 and 1987. Ireland\u2019s Eamonn Darcy won in 1983, beating Manuel Pi\u00f1ero by one shot, and Nick Faldo was victorious in 1987, finishing two shots ahead of Ballesteros and Baiocchi. <\/p>\n In 1988, with the launch of the Volvo Masters, Valderrama made its initial move into an international spotlight that would shine brightly on the course for decades. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., the course had been bought a few years before by Jaime Ortiz Pati\u00f1o, a celebrated figure who was to make a massive contribution to the promotion of golf in Andaluc\u00eda. The tournament was born with an ambitious format: it was the grand finale of the European Tour season and the field was limited to just 50 players \u2013 the leading players on the money list (or order of merit). The prizemoney was significant, sufficient to be decisive in determining the year\u2019s number one \u2013 and it did on various occasions. <\/p>\n With these ingredients, the cocktail was an explosive one, and its success was a natural consequence: with thousands of spectators looking on at Valderrama, the formidable show ended with two of the greatest European golfers in history vying for the title: Faldo and Ballesteros. The Englishman eventually won with a total of 284, two fewer than his Spanish rival. They were the only two players to finish below par (four and two-under, respectively) at the daunting Valderrama course. Faldo collected a check for \u20ac123,662 of a total prize fund of \u20ac492,366. Third was another Grand Slam winner, Scotland\u2019s Sandy Lyle, on even-par 288. <\/p>\n Thus was born a legendary event that didn\u2019t crown a Spanish winner until its 11th edition in 1999 at Montecastillo (Jerez); in fact, the only Spanish winner in its 21-year history, Miguel \u00c1ngel Jim\u00e9nez. This final year of the century was one of the best of Jimenez\u2019s career: months after also winning the Turespa\u00f1a Masters at the Parador M\u00e1laga del Golf, he lost a play-off on the first extra hole against Tiger Woods in the American Express World Golf Championship at Valderrama. He ended the year with 11 top-10 finishes, including those two wins and two runner-up finishes, and fourth on the order of merit with \u20ac1,148,290. His best performance in a major that year was 10th in the US PGA Championship. <\/p>\n Jim\u00e9nez might have been the only Spaniard to win the Volvo Masters but other compatriots went extremely close, highlighted by Sergio Garc\u00eda, who finished second in 2004, losing a play-off against Englishman Ian Poulter, and was runner-up again the following year, finishing two shots behind Ireland\u2019s Paul McGinley. Even though it wasn\u2019t in this tournament, the Castell\u00f3n star finally broke through at Valderrama when he won the Andaluc\u00eda Masters, beating Jim\u00e9nez by one shot on the final hole. Another Spaniard who was on the verge of winning the Volvo Masters was Carlos Rodiles, who lost in sudden-death against Swede Fredrik Jacobsen in 2003 at Valderrama. <\/p>\n In the more than 70 European Tour events held in Andaluc\u00eda, including the Qualifying School final, there have been only six Spanish victories so far: Gallardo, Jim\u00e9nez (two), Rodiles (2006 Qualifying School at San Roque), \u00c1lvaro Quir\u00f3s (2010 Spanish Open at Royal Sevilla Golf Club) and Garc\u00eda. Runner-up finishes have been more prolific: 14 individual and one for teams, the 2004 World Cup at Royal Sevilla, won by England. Seve heads the list with three runner-up places: 1987 Spanish Open, and 1988 and 1994 Volvo Masters. Garc\u00eda and Jim\u00e9nez have two second-place finishes each (or three including the aforementioned World Cup, where they represented Spain), while the others (in addition to Pi\u00f1ero and Rodiles) include Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Olaz\u00e1bal, Miguel \u00c1ngel Mart\u00edn, Ignacio Garrido, Alejandro Ca\u00f1izares and Pablo Larr\u00e1zabal. <\/p>\n In stark comparison with the overwhelming number of men\u2019s events, only three Ladies European Tour (LET) tournaments have been held in Andaluc\u00eda: the Marbella Ladies Open at Los Naranjos in 1988 (won by South African Laurette Maritz) and two Spanish Women\u2019s Opens, at Flamingos in 2010 (where legendary international star Laura Davies was victorious) and La Quinta the following year (won by another Englishwoman, Melissa Reid), with Spain\u2019s Tania El\u00f3segui joint second.<\/p>\n The European Senior Tour has had more than one presence in Andaluc\u00eda, with its epicentre once again on the Costa del Sol. The first host was Flamingos in 2002, for the Seniors Match Play (won by Jamaican Delroy Cambridge), while Carl Mason won in 2004 at the same resort (where Michelle Obama and one of her daughters stayed in 2010). <\/p>\n The Tour returned to Andaluc\u00eda five years later, thanks to the support of Benahav\u00eds Town Hall, the municipality with the second highest number of courses on the Costa del Sol, after neighboring Marbella. The Benahav\u00eds Senior Masters was held in 2009 at La Quinta, where Carl Mason secured the trophy in a play-off against Gordon Brand Jr. The event returned the next three years, with victories by Boonchu Ruangkit, Mason again and Gary Wolstenholme. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thus was born a legendary event that didn\u2019t crown a Spanish winner until its 11th edition in 1999 at Montecastillo (Jerez); in fact, the only Spanish winner in its 21-year history, Miguel \u00c1ngel Jim\u00e9nez. This final year of the century was one of the best of Jimenez\u2019s career: months after also winning the Turespa\u00f1a Masters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias-generales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"%5C%22images\/stories\/Reportajes\/tiger1999.jpg%5C%22\")
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