Courtesy of Mateo Villalba/LIV Golf
Sergio Garcia made history on Sunday after winning his first individual title on the LIV Golf tour while his Fireballs GC also won the team title and to make things sweeter they did it on the Spaniard’s home soil at LIV Golf Andalucia on a day in which Spain dominated the global sports landscape.
Garcia’s LIV Golf Andalucia win came shortly after Carlos Alcaraz won his second Wimbledon title. Following Alcaraz’s win at Wimbledon, he joked to the crowd that “it will be a good day for Spanish people as well” as boos rained down from nervous British spectators who in their heart of hearts were worried that England wouldn’t have it in them to beat Spain in the 2024 Euro Finals.
Following his LIV Golf Andalucia win, Sergio Garcia‘s comments were similar to Alcaraz. Garcia said: “I might be wrong, but I think that if the soccer team wins tonight, it could be probably one of the biggest days in the history of Spanish sports I would say: Alcaraz winning, us winning both individually and as a team, and then the national team winning the Euro Cup. It would be amazing to have all those four things happen in the same day. It would be amazing.”
A historic day for Spanish sports 🙌#LIVGolf @TheSergioGarcia pic.twitter.com/6aFkWhipms
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) July 14, 2024
He is absolutely correct. Haters are gonna hate but Sergio’s right in saying that Sunday was one of the biggest days in history for Spanish sports. A spaniard won the Wimbledon’s Men’s Singles title, Spain won the 2024 Euros over England in electric fashion with a late goal, Sergio won the individual LIV Golf title at an event in Spain and his team won the team title. But yes, haters will hate and say that Sergio was trying to attach himself to something larger.
On X (formerly Twitter), people replied to a LIV Golf post with things like “maybe if he won a PGA event sure” and “Yea… winning a random event on LIV is exactly the same as Wimbledon” and “I’m sure there will be a national holiday thanks to Sergio” and “Kinda narcissistic if you ask me.”
I’ve been a fan of Sergio’s for as long as I can remember, except during the Ryder Cup when I’ve wanted him to be stuffed into a cannon and fired into space, and I’ve taken note of his haters over the years, of which there are many. For some reason, this comment seems to have triggered his haters in a way that I haven’t seen outside of the Ryder Cup or when he left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf and I don’t really understand why.
3 of the last 6 Major Championship winners in golf are currently on the LIV Golf tour: Bryson DeChambeau most recently at the US Open, Jon Rahm at the 2023 Masters, and Brooks Koepka at the PGA last year. And not only did Bryson DeChambeau win the US Open at Valhalla he pretty much won over tens of millions of fans along the way and showed his game hasn’t diminished at all on the LIV Golf Tour.
Yet there are still haters out there claiming Sergio’s comments are silly and replying with memes like these:
— Tom Downey (@WhatGoingDowney) July 14, 2024
— JT Nichols (@JohnnyTsunami44) July 14, 2024
Does LIV Golf Andalucia have the gravitas of Wimbledon or the Euros? No. Is it still a prestigious event on the global golf stage when compared to any other event? Sure. Does a Spaniard winning on Spanish soil for his first LIV Golf individual win make it even more incredible? It absolutely does. Alas, haters will always find a way to hate.
And for what it’s worth, Sergio Garcia earned $4 million for winning LIV Golf Andalucia while Carlos Alcaraz earned $3.427 million for winning Wimbledon…