Andalucia’s GS for Sport heaps praise at LIV Golf’s economic impact on the region
The sports authorities in Andalusia were pleased with the realization of LIV Golf Andalusia and praised it for its positive impact on the region. They also showed their commitment to the long-term sustainability of the event.
The Secretary General of Sports of Andalusia, Jose Maria Arrabal, participated in the press conferences prior to the 2024 edition of LIV Golf Andalusia. Arrabal explained that one of the growth strategies of the Andalusian region is the realization of high-profile sporting events.
"The will and the intention is that it is a stable content over time," assured Arrabal (via Andalucia Informacion) "Every year has its difficulties, but Andalusia's strategy is a permanent strategy, the best golf tournaments have and want to be in Andalusia."
"It's providing tremendous value to our community, to our people, and it's creating a lot of jobs. It's adding value in terms of health, values, visitors, infrastructures, and so on," he added.
The LIV Golf Andalucia is part of a wide program of events that the region has hosted in recent years, both golf and other sports. These include the 2023 Solheim Cup, the annual Motorcycle World Championship in Jerez and the SailGP sailing competition to be held in 2025.
A look at the history of LIV Golf Andalucia
The 2024 event will be the second edition of LIV Golf Andalucia, which was founded under the name LIV Valderrama, in reference to its home venue. However, the name was changed before the end of the first edition.
The event is played at the Real Club Valderrama, one of the best courses in Spain and Europe. The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones and inaugurated in 1974. It currently measures 6,990 yards and is par 71.
The course has hosted many high-level tournaments since its inception in 1974. Several editions of the Andalucia Masters and the Volvo Masters have been played here. In 1997, it hosted the Ryder Cup for the first time in continental Europe. In 2016, it hosted the Open de España.
The 2023 LIV Andalucia event was played in July and was the third win of the season for Talor Gooch, en route to win the Individual Season title. Gooch finished on 12-under-par, one stroke ahead of Bryson DeChambeau.
The highest-finishing Spaniard was David Puig (T5), his best finish of the season to date. Local hero Sergio Garcia also finished in the top 10.
The 2024 edition will see an increased presence of local players, with Jon Rahm making his debut in the event. Rahm is coming off a top-10 finish in each of the nine tournaments played at LIV Golf during the season.
Both Garcia and Rahm have had great success at Valderrama in the past. Garcia won three editions of the Andalucia Masters there (2011, 2017, 2018), while Rahm finished second in the same event in 2019.