After falling short in a playoff on three occasions this season, Garcia finally broke through at Real Club Valderrama yesterday to secure his first professional win since the 2020 Sanderson Farms Championship.
Garcia recorded a 5-under-par 66 during the third round to chip into the four-stroke advantage of overnight leader Lahiri, who missed a 3-foot putt on No. 18 and limped to a 73 yesterday.
Garcia then rolled in a short putt in the playoff to secure the win and pocket $4mn for his first-place finish.
Garcia was asked if winning in Spain on his favourite course served as one of the highlights of his career.
“Without a doubt,” he said. “Not only that, but also Carlos winning. Alcaraz won today (at Wimbledon). Hopefully Spain wins tonight (versus England in the Euro 2024 Championship). It would be an unbelievable weekend.
“Actually I was talking to my wife, my manager, and I was like, shooting 5-under and I’ll see what happens. But played well, played well in the playoff. It’s just a tough hole. But so happy.”
Garcia, who ended up at 5-under 208 for the tournament, also saw Fireballs GC edge Crushers GC in a playoff to win the team competition. Abraham Ancer and David Puig defeated Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey on the first playoff hole for the $3mn team prize.
Lahiri walked away with a second-prize payday of $2.25mn while England’s Tyrell Hatton (69 yesterday) pocketed $1.5mn after finishing in third place at 4-under. Patrick Reed (67) and South African Louis Oosthuizen (69) each ended up with $900,000 after finishing at 3-under.
“Yeah, I felt pretty gutted for Lahiri,” Hatton said. “It was a bit awkward on the 18th green with the crowd because they wanted Sergio to win. Yeah, I mean, I think everyone thought it would be done there, and unfortunately for Lahiri and the Crushers, they ended up having to go into a playoff. That’s definitely going to sting a lot for those guys. From my point of view, nice to have another good week going into the Open.”
New Zealand’s Danny Lee carded his second straight 72 yesterday to finish in a tie for sixth place at 2-under with Australian Cameron Smith (68) and Chilean Joaquin Niemann (69).
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