Fantasy Preview and Picks for LIV Golf Andalucia
After a short two-week break, the LIV Golf season will resume with two stops in Europe, first in Spain this week before moving to the United Kingdom later this month. We're coming off a thrilling finish in Dallas, which saw four players face off in a one-hole playoff on the challenging Maridoe Golf Club. In the end, it was the 4Aces GC's Patrick Reed who came out on top after carding a birdie on the playoff hole to outlast Crushers GC's Paul Casey, Iron Heads GC's Jinichiro Kozuma and Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen . It was Reed's first LIV Golf victory in 41 attempts, giving him plenty of momentum heading into Valderrama and stirred some discussion around his inclusion on the United States' Ryder Cup team. On the team side of things, Crushers GC came away with their third straight victory, with all four members finishing in the top-11 of the individual table.
Real Golf Club Valderrama in Andalucia will welcome the LIV Golf field for a third consecutive year. Valderrama is considered one of the most challenging courses in the world and has been aptly known as the "Augusta of Europe." It's a relatively short course at 7,010 yards, but there are bunkers scattered throughout the fairways and surrounding the greens that will punish players for missing their landing spots. It's rare to find players who come out from the other side under par, with 13 players able to do so in 2023 and only nine in 2024.
Valderrama will certainly test the nerves of the field this weekend and has served as an inflection point for players over the past two years. In 2023, Talor Gooch was able to outlast Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka after going 10-under par over the final two rounds to claim his third individual victory of the year, which eventually led to him winning the Individual Championship by season end. Valderrama reared its head again in 2024, but Anirban Lahiri appeared to have tamed the course by carding under par scores through the first two rounds, only to falter at the end. His tap-in par putt on the 18th hole lipped out, which opened the door for Fireballs GC captain and hometown favorite Sergio Garcia to come in and win his first career LIV Golf title on the second playoff hole. Garcia went on to finish third in the 2024 individual seasons standings behind Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann to earn a cool $4 million bonus.
This weekend's tournament comes one week before for 19 LIV Golf players participating in The Open Championship starting July 17. A LIV Golfer has won one major tournament in each of the last two years (Koepka at the 2023 PGA Championship and DeChambeau at the 2024 U.S. Open), and Royal Portrush will be the final opportunity to continue that trend. Four players earned an invitation to The Open over the past two weeks; Garcia earned an exemption for sitting in fifth in the LIV Golf individual season standings after Dallas and Lee Westwood, Lucas Herbert and Dean Burmester all finished first in their respective venues during Final Qualifying last week. The LIV Golf contingent will be headlined by the likes of Niemann, DeChambeau, Rahm, Reed and Open Championship winners Cameron Smith (2022), Henrik Stenson (2016), Phil Mickelson (2013) and Oosthuizen (2010).
With only four individual tournaments left in the season, here are my fantasy picks for LIV Golf Andalucia.
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INDIVIDUALS
GROUP 1
Patrick Reed - 4Aces GC
Reed finally got the monkey off his back in Dallas two weekends ago, capturing his first LIV Golf trophy of his career after a four-man playoff to move to fourth in the individual season standings. He has scored points in six of the last seven LIV Golf tournaments and has made the cut in two of the three majors this season (solo third at The Masters, T23 at the U.S. Open). His season stats don't pop off the page (other than scrambling opportunities, which ranks fourth in the league), but Reed has the momentum behind him heading into Andalucia, where he finished T4 in 2024.
Tyrrell Hatton - Legion XIII
Hatton was positioned to win his second LIV Golf tournament after carding a 7-under 65 in the second round at Dallas. An untimely double bogey on the par-4 12th and a bogey on the 18th hole undid the Englishman's hard work, but he still walked away with his second top-5 finish of the LIV Golf season. He's also made the cut in all three majors this season, most recently a T4 finish at the U.S. Open. Hatton is fourth in the field in GIR, and last year he finished solo third at Andalucia.
Honorable Mentions: Bryson DeChambeau (Captain, Crushers GC - in the top-10 across all statistical categories and has finished top-10 in each of the last six LIV Golf tournaments, including his victory in Korea), Joaquin Niemann (Captain, Torque GC - battled back from an awful first round to finish T23 in Dallas, finished T6 in Andalucia last year)
GROUP 2
Anirban Lahiri - Crushers GC
Lahiri has finished T2-T11 over the last two LIV Golf tournaments and is ranked T4 in the field in birdies made. Those outings will not be on his mind, however, as he'll enter Andalucia looking to avenge his falter at the finish line in 2024. Lahiri has five podium finishes in his LIV Golf career but has yet to hoist an individual trophy of his own.
Louis Oosthuizen - Captain, Stinger GC
Oosthuizen started the season slowly, but he's scored points in each of the last three LIV Golf tournaments and is coming off his best finish of the season (T2 in Dallas). The Stinger GC captain ranks eighth and 11th in driving accuracy and scrambling, respectively, which should allow him to keep or get out of sticky situations at Valderrama. He finished T4 in Andalucia last year thanks to a 2-under 68 in the final round.
Honorable Mentions: David Puig (Fireballs GC - returned from a back injury to finish T13 in Dallas and ranks T4 and sixth in putts per hole and scrambling, respectively), Paul Casey (Crushers GC - coming off a T2 finish in Dallas, ranks second in driving accuracy and fifth in GIR)
GROUP 3
Tom McKibbin - Legion XIII
McKibbin finished in the top-15 in four of the first five LIV Golf tournaments but entered Dallas with finishes of T34-47-T38 across his last three outings. He was much better on the challenging Maridoe Golf Course and used consecutive birdies from holes 13 to 15 to rise up the leaderboard before settling for a T5 finish. The Northern Irishman ranks sixth in driving distance, seventh in scrambling and 11th in GIR this season.
Jinichiro Kozuma - Iron Heads GC
Kozuma has played magnificently since his debut in Mexico City after missing the first five LIV Golf tournaments due to a back injury. While others were struggling at Maridoe, Kozuma surged to the top of the leaderboard with a 4-under 68 final round and lead for brief moments before falling short to Reed in the playoff. Despite playing in just four LIV Golf tournaments, Kozuma is 29th in the individual season standings and knocking on the door to the Lock Zone.
Honorable Mentions: Richard Bland (Cleeks GC - passed on defending his Senior U.S. Open title to play in Dallas, where he finished T18, and he finished T14 in Andalucia last year), Martin Kaymer (Captain, Cleeks GC - middling stats this season, but he has finished T8-T18 over the last two LIV Golf tournaments to propel himself to 34th in the standings and out of the Drop Zone)
GROUP 4
Danny Lee - Iron Heads GC
Lee hasn't had much success this season, though his T9 finish in Miami has him outside the Drop Zone. He finished T6 in Andalucia last year -- his best LIV Golf finish -- and perhaps a return to Valderrama will give the New Zealander the boost he needs to close out the season strong.
Lee Westwood - Co-captain, Majesticks GC
Westwood came up just short of accruing points at Dallas (T25). However, the Englishman has some momentum behind him after earning medalist honors for his 7-under performance for Final Qualifiying at Dundonald Links, which earned him a spot in The Open Championship.
Honorable Mentions: Anthony Kim (Wild Card - coming off a T25 finish in Dallas, his best performance since joining the league at Jeddah in 2024), Branden Grace (Stinger GC - currently sits just outside of the Open Zone and has finished T19-T23 over his last two LIV Golf tournaments)
TEAMS
Crushers GC (Bryson DeChambeau, Anirban Lahiri, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III)
There's no team hotter than Crushers GC now, who have matched what Fireballs GC did earlier in the season by winning three straight team trophies. The Crushers' recent efforts catapulted them to the top of the team standings, 5.33 points ahead of Legion XIII. It's been an all-around effort from the foursome, but DeChambeau's play in particular has helped the team in their most recent rise.
Fireballs GC (Sergio Garcia, David Puig, Abraham Ancer, Josele Ballester)
Speaking of the Fireballs, they have slipped to third in the standings and haven't had a podium finish other than their three straight victories in Adelaide, Hong Kong and Singapore. They did win in Andalucia last year, however, and with three Spaniards on the team (Garica, Puig and Ballester), the Fireballs should have some homefield advantage at Valderrama.
Honorable Mentions: 4Aces GC (finished second in back-to-back tournaments, which has lifted them to fourth in the team standings), Legion XIII (slid down to second in the team standings, but they are coming off a third place finish in Dallas and are the only team to accrue points in every single tournament this season)
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