First Look: LIV Golf Andalucia 2026

SOTOGRANDE, Spain – LIV Golf visits its ninth different country with this week’s LIV Golf Andalucía at the historic Real Club Valderrama.

BASIC INFO

2026 LIV GOLF ANDALUCIA

When
June 4-7, 2026

Where
Real Club Valderrama
San Roque, Cádiz, Spain

Competition
Four rounds/72 holes of stroke play

Field
57 players - 13 teams of four players each, and five wild cards

Shotgun Start (Local time)

Thursday, Rd. 1 - 1:15 p.m. (7:15 a.m. ET)

Friday, Rd. 2 - 1:15 p.m. (7:15 a.m. ET)

Saturday, Rd. 3 - 1:15 p.m. (7:15 a.m. ET)

Sunday, Rd. 4 - 1:05 p.m. (7:05 a.m. ET)

KEY STORYLINES

LIV Golf continues its worldwide schedule with a return visit to the iconic Real Club Valderrama in Spain – the ninth different country to host a LIV Golf tournament in the first nine tournaments of the 2026 season

This will be the fourth consecutive year that Valderrama will host a LIV Golf tournament, tying for the most times hosted by any course

The previous three tournaments have been won by teams with Spanish-speaking captains – Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII last season, Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC in 2024 and Chilean-born Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC in 2023

The all-Spanish Fireballs, captained by Garcia and including Josele Ballester, David Puig and Luis Masaveu, will receive plenty of support in front of their home fans

The Fireballs swept both trophies at Valderrama in 2024, winning the team title while Garcia won a playoff for the individual trophy – the fourth time that Garcia has won a tournament at Valderrama during his professional career

Rahm, LIV Golf’s other Spanish-born captain, led his Legion XIII to the team trophy last season while finishing second to Talor Gooch on the individual leaderboard

Gooch, in his first year as OKGC captain, has won two of the previous three LIV Golf tournaments at Valderrama, having captured the inaugural LIV Golf Andalucia in 2023 en route to winning the season-long

Gooch comes off a playoff loss to Niemann at last week’s LIV Golf Korea, as Niemann captured his league-record eighth individual title

With the victory, Niemann moved to third in the Individual Championship standings behind reigning two-time champion Rahm and Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau, with those three captains combining for five wins this season

The Crushers won the team title in Korea for their second win in the last four tournaments, moving to third place in the team standings behind 4Aces GC and Ripper GC

This week’s LIV Golf Andalucía is the final chance to earn the LIV Golf exemption for next month’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. The highest-ranked player (and ties if applicable) in the season-long points race who is not otherwise exempt will receive an invite to the year’s last major in Southport, England on July 16-19.

Currently, 11 LIV Golf players are already exempt, including Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, who are guaranteed to remain the top two players in points after this week. Of the top 10 players in points, Lucas Herbert (4th) and Elvis Smylie (7th) also are exempt.

Fourteen players enter Andalucía with a mathematical chance to earn the LIV Golf exemption, although realistically the battle will focus on the top six who have yet to get a spot.

Joaquin Niemann moved to No. 3 in points after his victory last week at LIV Golf Korea and now controls his own destiny. A win (worth 200 points) or runner-up (113 points) at Valderrama would guarantee the spot; he would also likely earn the exemption with a strong finish.

The Torque GC captain has a top-20 finish at last month’s PGA Championship and has already earned the LIV Golf exemption for the U.S. Open later this month. But he isn’t looking too far ahead at a potential Open spot. “I’m just trying to get better and focus in on the challenge that we have this week,” he said.

Thomas Detry starts the week just under 45 points behind Niemann and doesn’t need a victory. If Niemann finishes 15th or worse, Detry would likely need a top-five result. The 4Aces GC newcomer has finished inside the top five in three of his last five starts.

Anthony Kim also can claim the spot without a win, but like his 4Aces teammate Detry, he needs a strong week. Kim, who won his first LIV Golf title earlier this season in Adelaide, is just over 54 points behind Niemann. If Kim earns the spot, it would be his first major start in 15 years.

Fireballs GC’s David Puig, less than 84 points behind, needs a win or runner-up as well as significant help from Niemann for the spot. “If I want to get it this week, it’s fairways, greens and hopefully make a few putts, avoid the trees, play smart,” he said. “If I get it, it would be amazing.”

OKGC Captain Talor Gooch and the Fireballs’ Josele Ballester are each approximately 140 points behind Niemann. Each must win to have any hope and would still need help from the others ahead of them to move up high enough in the rankings.

“I’m confident of what I can do and looking forward to taking on this challenge,” said Ballester.

Click here for more information and scenarios for LIV Golf’s Open Championship exemption

ABOUT THE COURSE

REAL CLUB VALDERRAMA
San Roque, Cadiz, Spain

Par: 71
Yardage: 7,010
Meters: 6,410

• Ranked among the top courses in the world, Real Club Valderrama has hosted numerous professional tournaments, including LIV Golf Andalucia in 2023, 2024 and 2025, along with the 1997 Ryder Cup – the first time the event had been held in Continental Europe
• Valderrama was originally designed by famed golf architect Robert Trent Jones in 1974; Jones was brought back to work on the course when Jamie Ortiz-Patino bought the course in the mid-1980s
• Valderrama is widely considered to be the “Augusta of Europe” for its championship pedigree and immaculate maintenance
• Golf Digest ranks Valderrama as 34th in its rankings of the Top 100 World’s Greatest Courses, noting that Robert Trent Jones considered it one of his favorite courses. Writes Golf Digest: “His tight, twisting fairways, pinched at every turn by squat olive trees, led to surprisingly small putting surfaces protected by his trademark splashy bunkers.”
• The memorable 536-yard par-5 17th provides a natural amphitheater for fans. Writes Golf Digest: “Valderrama contains one of the more controversial holes in golf: The par-5 17th guarded by water in front, which European captain Seve Ballesteros toughened for that Ryder Cup. It influenced the outcome then, and was a game changer again in 2017, when Sergio Garcia won his own foundation's tournament, the European Tour's Andalucia Valderrama Classic. His birdie on 17 in the final round was the margin of victory.”

SERGIO GARCIA ON VALDERRAMA

Sergio Garcia calls Real Club Valderrama his favorite course – and with good reason. The Fireballs GC captain has won four times at Valderrama in his professional career, including the 2024 LIV Golf Andalucia. In his 18 starts at Valderrama, he has 17 top-10 finishes.

Says Garcia about the course: “I just love the way it plays. I love the way it's not a long course, but it makes you think every single tee shot, every single shot into the greens. You have to think about what you want to do. I think that it's probably one of the few courses that probably makes you use every single club you have in the bag, which is good to see. We don't get to see that that often in some of the newer designs. So, I think to me, in my personal opinion, that's what makes a great golf course”

WEATHER FORECAST

• Rd. 1 – Hi: 88 degrees; Lo: 65 degrees. Sunny skies. 7% chance of precipitation. Wind: 15-25 mph, W.
• Rd. 2 – Hi: 80 degrees; Lo: 66 degrees. Mostly sunny skies. 2% chance of precipitation. Wind: 10-15 mph, WSW shifting to ESE.
• Rd. 3 – Hi: 76 degrees; Lo: 66 degrees. Partly cloudy skies. 17% chance of precipitation. Wind: 10-15 mph, ESE.
• Rd. 4 – Hi: 76 degrees; Lo: 65 degrees. Partly cloudy skies. 16% chance of precipitation. Wind: 10-20 mph, E.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE

UNITED STATES

Here are the times for the FOX broadcast schedule

Thursday, June 4 (Round 1): 7 am-8am (FS1); 8am-Noon (FS2)

Friday, June 5 (Round 2): 7 am-8am (FS1); 8am-Noon (FS2)

Saturday, June 6 (Round 3): 7 am-Noon (FS1)

Sunday, June 7 (Round 4): 7 am-Noon (FS1)

All times listed in ET

SPAIN

In Spain, fans can watch LIV Golf Andalucía live on MoviStar+ Golf, LIV Golf’s exclusive broadcast partner in the country. Complete coverage of all four rounds from Real Club Valderrama will be available across Movistar+ Golf and the MoviStar+ app throughout the event.

Thursday, June 4 (Round 1): 1:15 pm (Movistar+ Golf)

Friday, June 5 (Round 2): 1:15 pm (Movistar+ Golf)

Saturday, June 6 (Round 3): 1:15 pm (Movistar+ Golf)

Sunday, June 7 (Round 4): 1:05 pm (Movistar+ Golf)

All times are listed in Central European Summer Time (CEST)