NASHVILLE PREVIEW: GARCIA AND HIS MEN READY TO GO ONE BETTER
COLLEGE GROVE, Tenn. – Form, as well as confidence, is with the Fireballs GC. Not only are they trending in the right direction, they are also in a buoyant mood following the US Open last week. It could prove to be just the combination for them to close out their first team title of the season and individual glory.
The Sergio Garcia-led team was tied for 2nd place in their last two starts in Houston and Singapore. And last week, three of their four members – Garcia, David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra – made it to the third major championship of the year at Pinehurst. Only Abraham Ancer, the most consistent player in the side and winner of LIV Golf Hong Kong, sat out.
At the US Open, Garcia played brilliantly in tough conditions and was tied 12th. The Spaniard overcame a faltering start on Sunday which saw him make three straight bogeys from holes 2 to 4, but then knuckled down and closed with an even-par 70.
It was Garcia’s first top-20 in a major championship since winning the 2017 Masters. However, it has been very evident this season on LIV Golf is that he is back where he belongs. A win may have eluded him so far, but Garcia has two second-place finishes after losing playoffs to Joaquin Niemann in season-opening Mayakoba and to Dean Burmester in Miami.
Puig slipped to tied 55th place after a 78 on Sunday when he could not find a single birdie, but it was his first cut in a major championship and came after he won the medalist honor at the Final Qualifying at Lake Merced.
Chacarra did not make the cut at the US Open, but he revealed he was feeling much better with a hip problem that seems to have been bothering him for some time.
“For the past year and a half, I had hip problems, and for the first three events this season I still needed injections. With the way my body was feeling, it was hard to perform,” said Chacarra, winner of LIV Golf Bangkok in the inaugural season.
“But I have been feeling great for one month now, and I think you can see by the results. My game is getting to where it wants to be because I am healthy again. I still have some mistakes I can clean up, but I can see I perform and compete with the best when I am healthy, and I am healthier.”
Even though Fireballs have finished second in their last two starts, they are still eighth in the overall Team Standings with 61.83 points. A win at LIV Golf Nashville, which is not beyond the realms of possibility, can vault them as high as third place.