Sergio Garcia will be looking to continue his remarkable love affair with Real Club Valderrama this week when his foundation plays host to the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters.
He arrives in southern Spain as three time defending champion after his victories in 2011, 2017 and 2018 but his record at Valderrama goes far beyond that.
The Spaniard was three times a runner up here at the Volvo Masters with three other top tens, finished third at the 2016 Open de España and fifth back in 2000 at the WGC-Championship.
It is no wonder then that Garcia regards Valderrama as his favourite golf course and he is delighted to be back and looking to challenge again.
"Coming back to Spain is always special but to come back to Valderrama, my favourite golf course where I have done so well, it's really really something else," he said.
"I'm excited about it, excited about the week, excited about the tournament. I'm very thankful for Valderrama and Andalucía and Estrella Damm for all their efforts for making the tournament bigger and better and even better looking into the future."
Garcia's victory last season came under testing conditions, with the event pushed into a Monday finish and reduced to 54 holes after a series of weather delays.
To come back to Valderrama, my favourite golf course where I have done so well, it's really really something else - Sergio Garcia
The soft conditions helped Garcia get to 12 under on one of the toughest layouts on the Race to Dubai but, with more typically Spanish weather expected this week, the 39-year-old is not expecting to go that low.
"Any week that you finish on Monday and you don't get to finish 72 holes, it's always tricky, it's not the ideal scenario," he said.
"It looks like this year is going to be totally different so we're excited to see how the course is going to play with good weather. It looks amazing, it's getting quite firm so it's going to be very challenging.
"The course is playing totally different than it has the past few years. There'll be some scores because it doesn't look like it's going to be too windy but I would expect it to be around the five or six under that usually wins here."
