2024 Hong Kong champ Ancer feeling at home with Torque GC

HONG KONG – When Abraham Ancer won the individual title at Hong Kong Golf Club in 2024, he celebrated with his then-Fireballs GC teammates. While they shared a common language – actually, two languages, Spanish and English – they did not share the same nationality. Ancer is from Mexico; the other three from Spain. In essence, they grew up on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. 

This week when Ancer tees off at HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong, it will be his third start with his new team, Torque GC. Ancer made the switch in the offseason, filling the vacancy left by the relegated Mito Pereira. His new teammates include his longtime friend and fellow Mexican Olympian Carlos Ortiz; Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz; and captain Joaquin Niemann from Chile. 

The move was not only expected but logical, Ancer jumping from LIV Golf’s Spanish team to its Latin American team. 

“It’s a great fit,” Ortiz said. “It’s always been his home, and I feel like now it’s official. He was studying abroad. Now he’s come back home.” 

It’s also a reuniting of Ortiz and Ancer, who were Fireballs teammates playing for captain Sergio Garcia in LIV Golf’s first two seasons. But then Ortiz joined Torque at the start of the 2024 season, leaving Ancer as the Fireballs’ lone non-Spaniard the last two years. 

From a results standpoint, Ancer’s time with the Fireballs was extremely successful. Not only did he win the individual trophy in Hong Kong and produce three other podium finishes, but he was a key contributor to the team’s trophy case. The Fireballs won seven regular-season titles and are the only team to post victories in each of LIV Golf’s first four seasons. Last year, they won three consecutive tournaments, including at Hong Kong GC when Garcia also picked up the individual title while Ancer finished T12 in his title defense. 

The 35-year-old Ancer looks back fondly at his time with the Fireballs, appreciative of playing with Garcia and working with the team’s rising stars. 

“I had a great time with the Fireballs,” Ancer said. “And they still have a really strong team. But I feel like I’m home now definitely with these three guys. Carlos and I have known each other since we were little kids playing national events in Mexico and then we spent some time playing against each other in college as well. And they went to college together, Sebastián and Carlos. And when Joaco turned pro and came out firing on the PGA Tour, we definitely spent a lot of time together. We were teammates in the [2019] Presidents Cup as well. 

“It’s a special group. They have a really, really cool bond that goes back years and years, and I’m really happy to be a part of it.”

That bond was evident during a league function in January that brought together all the teams for pre-season media and marketing opportunities. The Torque players stayed at Niemann’s house, one of the first chances for the foursome to be together since Ancer’s move. 

The conversation at that first team dinner was, well, lively. 

The team’s review of the conversation 24 hours later was just as enlightening. 

“We had a good laugh,” Niemann said. 

Added Ancer: “Definitely a team that has a lot of very interesting topics that you can really into, I wouldn’t say heated debates, but it can get kind of intense. You can really see the personalities of each other kind of pop out, which is good. It’s always entertaining. Carlos is very knowledgeable in a lot of things in this world.” 

Explained Ortiz: “We just like to have deep conversations that are meaningful. I don’t like to waste time talking about stupid things, so we dive into the things that really matter. And I feel like we all have different opinions, and it’s great to have different perspectives because I understand that I don’t hold the absolute truth. The more I can understand the perspective from other people, I understand the reality better.” 

Noted Muñoz: “It’s just our personalities. Carlos is a guy that likes the big picture. He sees things in a different time lapse than we do, and he has a different sense of urgency with some topics. That’s why when we say maybe heated, it’s really just that urgency.” 

In other words, Torque get-togethers will never be boring. And based on their track records inside the ropes, it’ll likely be very successful. 

The addition of Ancer makes Torque the only LIV Golf team in which all four players have won individual tournament titles. Muñoz won the regular-season finale last year in Indianapolis when he opened with a 12-under 59 that included 14 birdies. Ortiz won in Houston the year before. And Niemann, of course, has the most individual wins in LIV Golf history with seven, including five last year. 

While the all-Australian Ripper GC has won the first two tournaments this season, Torque was the runner-up in Ancer’s debut with the team in Riyadh, and followed that with a T5 in Adelaide, leaving them in third place in the team standings. 

Torque has posted the same team score (33 under) in its first two visits to Hong Kong, finishing second in 2024 and T5 last year. Having Ancer, a proven winner at Fanling, in the lineup makes them one of the favorites this week.

Actually, they’ll be among the favorites most weeks this season. But Niemann is taking a practical approach when asked about what he expects from the team this season. 

“I don’t like going with expectations,” he said. “I feel like we should just work every day to be better, to improve on every aspect of our life or game. Whatever comes, I do think it’s going to be good. We’re going to have good results, good tournaments, good finishes. I’m excited to see how 2026 is going to unfold.” 

Despite all their individual success, Torque has been inconsistent as a team. They won four regular-season tournaments in 2023, but in the other three seasons combined, they have just one win.  And in the last two Team Championships, they’ve failed to reach the Championship Tier on the final day, suffering upsets in the earlier match-play rounds.

Perhaps Ancer will be the missing ingredient. 

“We’ve built this friendship that feels more like a family than just a team,” Ortiz said. “He fits right in and he has the vibe. He also has the discipline. We take life seriously and he’ll fit right in with that. He’s starting to understand that what we do is beyond golf. That’s why people say, ‘Oh, you guys are so close.’ Yeah, but it’s not because we’re just a team. Our friendship is so strong because every year, we’re trying to be better friends, better husbands, better fathers, better sons. When you keep doing that work, that translates into being better people, and then you help each other. … When you have that support group, you can really accomplish anything.” 

“It’s a really cool group,” Ancer said. “It doesn’t really feel like, ‘Oh, I need to find a way to fit in.’ I’ve known these guys for a long time. Carlos said to me, ‘Hey, welcome home.’ It definitely feels like home.”