Sergio Garcia of Spain plays his shot from the second tee during the second round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on September 22, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia © Getty/AFP/File / SAM GREENWOOD
SOTOGRANDE, Spain, Oct 22 – Sergio Garcia produced a nerveless four-under par final round to hold off Dutchman Joost Luiten and win the Andalucia Valderrama Masters by one shot on 12 under par on Sunday.
Garcia, whose foundation hosted the event in his homeland, closes the gap on England’s Tommy Fleetwood in the race to Dubai standings with his third victory of the year but first since ending his long wait for a first major championship at the Masters in April.
“The people were unbelievable, amazing, so many people came out and supported, it was really a treat,” Garcia told EuropeanTour.com.
“I want to dedicate this one to my wife Angela and our little baby coming next year in March.”
Garcia held a one-shot lead over Englishman Daniel Brooks, who finished third after an even par round.
However, it was Luiten, starting the day two shots back, who threatened to spoil Garcia’s homecoming with three birdies on the front nine.
Garcia pulled clear again with back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11, but a bogey at the 12th and birdies from Luiten at the 13th and 15th saw him take a share of the lead.
Luiten’s bogey five at the 16th was his downfall, though, as both birdied the par five 17th and Garcia held on with par at the last.
“Joost played unbelievable. I played really well and I felt like maybe I could get away and he just kept coming back and back and made it an amazing match,” added Garcia.
“I stayed patient the whole time, I made sure the bad moments did not affect me too much and made a couple of really key putts coming in.”
