Sergio Garcia continued his love affair with Real Club Valderrama as he claimed a sixth European Tour win on Spanish soil at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters.
The home hero also won the last staging event of this event here, in 2011, when he became the first Spaniard to win a European Tour stroke play tournament over the famous layout.
He has only finished outside the top ten once in 13 events here, with eight top fives, and a closing round of 67 moved him to 12-under and a one-shot win over Dutchman Joost Luiten.
The win is Garcia’s third of the season after he won his maiden Major Championship at the Masters Tournament to go with the Dubai Desert Classic, and closes the gap on Tommy Fleetwood at the top of the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
For Luiten it was just a second top ten of the season, but he has been a picture of consistency this term, making 18 of 22 cuts.
The headlines belong to Garcia, though, who became an honorary life member of the European Tour on Friday night and is now a 14-time winner.
Garcia holed a slippery one down the hill on the par-five fourth to get to to nine-under, but when Luiten hit a stunning approach to tap-in range on the fifth and put his tee-shot on the par-three sixth to six feet and made the putt, he was just one off the lead.
It was advantage Luiten on the ninth when he put his approach close, but Garcia holed with a five wood from the fringe with Luiten following him in as both men made birdies.
A 15-footer on the tenth made it a two-shot lead and Garcia took advantage of the par-five 11th to go three ahead.
He bogeyed the par-three 12th after finding sand off the tee while Luiten got up and down from the same position, and with the 31-year-old holing a long putt for birdie after an excellent second from the rough on the next, the lead was down to one.
Luiten put an impressive tee-shot into the par-three 15th to join the lead, but a three-putt on the 16th meant Garcia had a one-shot lead with two to play, with both men birdieing the 17th and parring the last.
Zander Lombard closed with a 70 for a four-over total of 288 and a tie for 36th, while Justin Walters closed with a 76 for an eight-over 292 and a tie for 54th position.
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
