Real Club Valderrama in October 2022 |
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LIV Golf Andalucia at Valderrama 2025
LIV Golf returned to the Valderrama Golf Club from 11 to 13 July 2025. This was the first LIV Golf tour event in Europe of the 2025 season. The event also provided an opportunity for 19 players to fine-tune their performance ahead of the Open Championship, which took place at Portrush in Northern Ireland the following week.
Talor Gooch of Smash GC returned to the LIV Golf individual winner's circle for the first time since 2023, while Legion XIII's Jon Rahm took home their third team title of the season at LIV Golf Andalucía.
Gooch said that "nothing was easy" in Sunday's final round, during which he led by four shots but had to make some pressure-packed shots towards the end. His approach shot from 210 yards onto the 18th green, while needing to protect a one-shot lead against Jon Rahm, was the most clutch moment of all. It landed pin-high and finished softly on the back fringe, setting up a two-putt winning par.
Meanwhile, Tom McKibbin made plenty of noise on Sunday with a 5-under-par 66 that helped fuel Legion XIII’s team victory, as well as putting him in a position to challenge for his first individual title.
However, a couple of late bogeys dropped him back into a tie for fourth place — his best result since joining LIV Golf in the preseason. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland is finding his form at just the right time: he will now join 18 other LIV Golf players at next week's Open Championship at Royal Portrush in his home country.
Abraham Ancer of Fireballs GC produced his second podium finish of the season with a solo third, riding a hot start en route to a bogey-free 66 at 5 under par. The Mexican had three birdies in his first five holes, shooting one of the four bogey-free rounds of the day.
Earlier this year, Ancer tied for second in Adelaide as part of the winning Fireballs team that started a run of three consecutive victories. His finish at Valderrama moved him into ninth place in the season-long individual standings. Andalucía winner Taylor Gooch moved into sixth place.
Ripper GC’s Matt Jones began the week in 48th place, which was the final position in the Open Zone. Branden Grace of Stinger GC started in 49th place, the first spot in the Drop Zone.
Both players delivered huge performances in Andalucía, which will likely ensure that they avoid relegation if they finish 49th or worse in points at the end of the regular season.
Jones shot a final-round 65, matching Jon Rahm’s score for the lowest round on Sunday, while Grace shot a 69. Both players tied for fourth place at 4 under par.
Consequently, Jones is now 36th with 19.25 points, while Grace is 37th with 19.10 points. With three regular-season tournaments left, the projected cut line to avoid relegation is just under 6 points.
For Jones, an original LIV Golf member, this is his best-ever league result. For Grace, who is also an original member and won LIV Golf’s first U.S. event in Portland in 2022, it is his best result since finishing runner-up in DC in 2023.
The Crushers GC's three-tournament winning streak came to an end, with Bryson DeChambeau’s team shooting just one under par to finish seventh at ten over par for the week. The Crushers dropped to second place in the season-long standings behind Legion XIII.
Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann’s streak of winning every other tournament this season also came to an end. He started the tournament with a bogey-free 69 to share the lead, but shot 75-71 to finish at par and tie for 23rd place.
He remains atop the Individual Championship standings, although his lead has been reduced. Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm moved into second place, ahead of DeChambeau, and is now just over 12 points behind Niemann.
The tournament had started in difficult conditions; play in the opening round on the Friday was suspended at 17:07 due to unplayable conditions caused by wind gusts of up to 33 mph. These strong winds rendered the greens unsuitable for competition. Tournament officials halted play, eventually deciding to suspend it until Saturday morning. The round was scheduled to resume at 08:00 on Saturday, with Round 2 due to start at 10:30.
Players will pick up their rounds from where they left off. Five players are currently tied for first place at 1 under: Talor Gooch (Smash GC), Lee Westwood (Majesticks GC), Cameron Smith (Ripper GC), Joaquín Niemann (Torque GC) and Branden Grace (Stinger GC).
Who was playing in Valderrama LIV Golf 2025?
4Aces GC: Dustin Johnson (captain) | Thomas Pieters | Patrick Reed | Harold Varner III
Cleeks GC: Martin Kaymer (captain) | Richard Bland | Adrian Meronk | Frederik Kjettrup
Crushers GC: Bryson DeChambeau (captain) | Paul Casey | Charles Howell IIII | Anirdban Lahiri
Fireballs GC: Sergio Garcia (captain) | Abraham Ancer | Luis Masaveu | David Puig
Hyflers GC: Phil Mickelson (captain) | Brendan Steele | Cameron Tringale | Andy Ogletree
Iron Heads GC: Kevin Na (captain) | Danny Lee | Yubin Jang | Jinichiro Kozuma
Legion XIII GC: Jon Rahm (captain) | Tyrrell Hatton | Caleb Surratt | Tom McKibbin
Majesticks GC: Ian Poulter (co-captain) | Lee Westwood (co-capt.) | Henrik Stenson (co-capt.) | Sam Horsfield
RangeGoats GC: Bubba Watson (captain) | Peter Uhlein | Matthew Wolff | Ben Campbell
Ripper GC: Cameron Smith (captain) | Marc Leishman | Matt Jones | Lucas Herbert
Smash GC: Brooks Koepka (captain) | Talor Gooch | Jason Kokrak | Graeme McDowell
Stinger GC: Louis Oosthuizen (captain) | Dean Burmester | Branden Grace | Charl Schwartzel
Tickets
There were plenty of tickets available for the Valderrama event. Basic entrance tickets cost €102 for the three days, or €38 for Friday, €43 for Saturday and €42 for Sunday.
Television
In the US, you could watch the 2025 LIV Golf tournament on Fox Sports, while in the UK, the event wasbe broadcast live on ITVX, with selected tournaments on ITV1 and ITV4.
Location
Valderrama Golf Club, Sotogrande, Cadiz, Spain