There are courses that bring a smile to Sergio García‘s face. Just hearing their name lifts his spirits. He gets a certain feeling. It’s obvious that the Masters de Augusta champion and Ryder Cup record holder has more than enough skills in his golf to face any scenario, no matter how hostile, but like everything in life, there are some that appeal to him more than others. It’s no revelation to mention Valderrama, TPC Sawgrass, Riviera, or the Hong Kong Golf Club itself, where he triumphed last week. Another one on this exclusive list is the Serapong course, one of the two courses at the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore. The venue for this week’s LIV Golf tournament.
Sergio’s numbers at Serapong are extraordinary. He has played five tournaments there, three from the Asian Tour and two from LIV Golf, with a record of one victory, one second place, another top ten, and five top 15 finishes. His first visit was in 2017. He played in Singapore at the year’s first tournament. It was the SMBC Singapore Open from the Asian Tour. It was a surprising decision, as Sergio usually started the year in the Emirates and occasionally in Hawaii. Things went well. He finished in seventh place, but it was a prelude to his victory at the Dubai Desert Classic and shortly after, he would win the Masters de Augusta. Quite something.
He returned the following year, given the excellent results he had obtained. Another success. Sergio won with notable authority. It was still an Asian Tour tournament. Of course, he defended his title the following year, in 2019, and finished eleventh. Not much to complain about.
From there, a hiatus without traveling to Singapore, partly due to the Covid pandemic. He returned in 2023 for the debut of LIV Golf in the Asian country. He continued in the same vein. Different circuit, same success. He finished second after losing in a playoff against Talor Gooch. At that time, it was a bitter second place, as he was really close to victory and it slipped away with a couple of bogeys in the last nine holes, after not having made any in the previous 47. Now, with perspective, it’s a magnificent result.
His last appearance at the Serapong course was last year, again with LIV Golf. He achieved his worst result, finishing in 14th place. Regardless, the balance is sensational. Not much to criticize.
If we get specific, the numbers are even more extraordinary. He has played 18 rounds of golf at Serapong and none have been over par, no less than fifteen were under par (three at par) and an impressive fourteen ended below 70 strokes. It’s a par 71. There are five holes where he hasn’t made a single bogey (4, 5, 11, 14, and 18), of which only 4 and 18 are par 5s. In the 18 times he has played the course, he has managed to make at least two birdies on all the holes, although the standout is the 18th, the final par 5, where he has an astonishing -16… It’s curious that precisely there he has the bitterest memory of the playoff with Gooch, where he fell with a par. One of the mere four he has made.
The hole that has given Sergio the most headaches is the 15th. His score on this hole is four over par. Here he made the only double bogey of his career at Serapong, along with four bogeys and only two birdies. He also has a score over par on holes 12 (+2), 8 (+1), 13 (+1), and 16 (+1). Needless to say, the most challenging stretch of Serapong is from 12 to 16. On the other hand, Sergio has a score of -33 on the first nine holes the 18 times he has played it. On the back nine, he has -17, mainly supported by the aforementioned -16 he accumulates on the 18th.
As you know, Sergio comes from winning with a masterclass in Hong Kong, so given these historical data of the Castellon native at Serapong, it can be concluded that he is the main favourite to win. The only thing against him is the well-proven fact that winning two consecutive weeks is really very difficult in this sport. However, García’s extra motivation to qualify for the US Open, the Open, and convince Luke Donald for the Ryder Cup can mitigate this effect.
Singapore is a country that hasn’t been bad for Spanish golf. In addition to the numbers we have reviewed of Sergio García, two more victories should be highlighted: Gonzalo Fernández Castaño in 2011 on the DP World Tour and David Puig in 2023 on the Asian Tour. In Gonzalo’s case, he played two rounds at Serapong and a third (reduced to three days due to bad weather) at Tanjong, the other course at Sentosa. Meanwhile, Puig won at another club: the Tampines course at the Tanah Merah Golf Club.
