Three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington has become the latest addition to the field at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation, as the Irishman targets a place in the final Rolex Series events of the 2018 Race to Dubai.
Harrington has been on a strong run of form of late, with three top tens in his past five events, and he made a late decision to travel to the Andalucia region of Spain in order to build on that momentum on a golf course upon which he has enjoyed some strong results.
The Dubliner has a string of good performances at the famous venue of The 1997 Ryder Cup, including a runner-up finish in the Volvo Masters in 1999 and a top five in the 2000 WGC-American Express Championship.
Having registered a top 30 finish last year as his fellow Major winner Sergio Garcia claimed a glorious victory, Harrington is relishing the opportunity to return to the renowned Robert Trent Jones Sr-designed course.
“Valderrama is one of the best golf courses we have in Europe,” said Harrington, who was one of the five Vice Captains in the winning European team for The 2018 Ryder Cup. “It’s a great tournament venue and a really good course to play.
“I’m just outside the automatic qualifying spots for the Turkish Airlines Open, so I need to make a few more points to get to Turkey. So it’s a great opportunity for me to go to a course I’m very familiar with, and get a bit of sun on my back too, so I’m looking forward to it.
“My form has been good, so hopefully I can take that form into the week, because I certainly need a decent performance. I thought I would finish better at Walton Heath but I left a few shots out on the golf course. Hopefully I can play well this week at Valderrama and get the points that I need.”
José Mari Olazábal©RC Valderrama
Last year, Garcia delighted Spanish fans with an emotional victory in Sotogrande, as he sealed his third win of the season to add to his maiden Major title at Augusta National as well as the Omega Dubai Desert Classic trophy.
Garcia will return to defend his title as he plays for the first time since becoming the record points-scorer in The Ryder Cup, beating Sir Nick Faldo’s record by a half a point with a total of 25.5.
Harrington also joins the victorious 2018 Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn in the field, as well as two more of the Vice Captains – 23-time European Tour winner Lee Westwood and another former European Tour Number One Robert Karlsson.
This year’s tournament, which takes place from October 18-21, will once again be sponsored by the Autonomous Government of Andalusia with the support of the Sergio Garcia Foundation.
The Spaniard set up his charitable foundation in 2002 for the purpose of contributing to the social inclusion of economically-deprived children through social assistance benefits and the practice of sport as free-time activity.
Tickets for the 2018 Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation start at €15 for the Pro-Am on Wednesday October 17, €20 for Thursday and Friday and €30 on Saturday and Sunday. Children aged under 14 are admitted to the event free of charge when accompanied by a ticket holding adult. Tickets are available now HERE
The Andalucía Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio García Foundation is sponsored by the Council of Tourism and Sport of the Junta de Andalucía through the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union, with the added institutional support of the Diputación de Cádiz, the San Roque City Council and the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation. It also enjoys the support of La Reserva de Sotogrande, Rolex, Heineken, Dubai Duty Free, Santander Private Banking, Shell, Exterior Plus and Samsic Iberia. Only Water, Grupo Hospitalario Quirónsalud, Coca-Cola, Varma and Korporate Technologies Group are official suppliers.
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