Sergio García played nine holes of the Pro Am today at the LIV Golf de Andalucía. From 1 to 9 at Valderrama. His first hole was masterful. In Ryder Cup mode. He hit the driver to the geometric centre of the fairway and his second shot landed about three metres past the flag, with a bit of backspin, and ended up given. Literally. A handspan away. His father Víctor, the faithful guardian of his swing throughout his career, joked with his son as he approached the green: “I thought an amateur had hit it.” To which Sergio replied: “a good amateur, I hope.”
Sergio made a birdie on 1, another on 4 after another sensational third shot, a bogey on 3, pars on 2, 6, 7, 8, and 9, and we can’t count 5 because he didn’t play his tee shot. The truth is he was unlucky. He hit a 3-iron on this short par 4 and the ball got embedded against the left bunker slope. He only hit two fairways (1 and 2), but his play was above his statistics. On 4, 7, 8, and 9, he really missed by very little and hit six greens. It’s important to add a very significant detail. It wasn’t an easy day for golf at Valderrama. The greens are getting faster and the wind was blowing. We could say that Sergio is not yet at his best level, but he’s getting closer. He’s almost ready.
Borriol’s own admitted yesterday, Wednesday, that he had found something in his game and felt much more comfortable. What exactly is that? Sergio explains. “On Tuesday, on my first practice day at Valderrama, I realised I was placing the ball too far forward in the stance. These are things that happen over time, a kind of habit you pick up and don’t realise until suddenly, you say, wait, could it be that…”, he tells Ten Golf.
In this case, the diagnosis was much more complicated than the solution. Basically, Sergio moved the ball position back in the stance. To put it simply, he placed it closer to his right foot. Any amateur golfer reading this article might think, how exaggerated professionals are… or the journalist, making a fuss over moving the ball a blade of grass back… We asked Sergio the same thing, if the position change is minimal, and he clarifies. “No, no, not a little, I’ve moved it back about this much (and he gestures with his hand using the thumb and index finger of his left hand, like a Playmobil hand).” He moved it back about five centimetres. No joke.
Sergio’s discomfort had reached such a point that he wasn’t even compressing the ball. It’s not just that bad shots were coming out, which they were, but he felt he wasn’t hitting any ball well (or almost none), even if some ended up well. By moving the ball back a bit more, he manages to compress better and, of course, strike the ball better. He’s more comfortable, although he warns: “look, this isn’t a magic wand or a switch you flip and suddenly you’re playing wonderfully. Now it has to be done in competition, which is the hardest part, and gradually regain confidence.”
If you watch this week on television, you’ll see that Sergio has recovered a pre-shot routine that helps him have the ball further back. Specifically, he starts the movement with his feet completely together and perpendicular to the ball. From there, he opens his left and right foot and better controls the position to gain those five centimetres back. Five centimetres that, who knows, could take him to the Ryder Cup.
