Against a backdrop of uncertainty, LIV is making its fourth visit to Real Club Valderrama – the famed stage for Europe’s 1997 Ryder Cup victory in Andalucia and a regular stop on the DP World Tour since 1988 – for the latest of its $30 million events. During the same weekend, the DP World Tour’s KLM Open will be held just south of Amsterdam with a more modest prize purse set at $2.75 million.
It was in the winter of 2022 that LIV pulled off the major Valderrama coup, the former CEO Norman adding a world-class venue to the nascent league’s roster after weeks of talks while further aggravating tensions with the game’s establishment. It’s understood a deal, thrashed out after a round of golf over the Costa del Sol layout, was to be worth over $2 million to the club, but that also meant turning its back on decades of history with the European Tour.
“It was very difficult,” Valderrama’s general manager Javier Reveriego tells TG on a phone call, reflecting on the move. “Not only from a corporate or club perspective, but we have a lot of friends on the European Tour. It was not easy, but at the same time it was a strategic decision for us. We wanted something different, something new. We weren’t entirely happy with the last years of the Andalucia Masters, so I think it was a very, very tough decision.”
Reveriego claims those Andalucia Masters tournaments, which carried $3 million purses, were not attracting anything like the fields desired for continental Europe’s most famous golf course. “Our expectations were probably higher in respect to players,” he says. “In respect to players, we probably had higher expectations. Our history puts the pressure on us to deliver good fields. This is obvious. We cannot just host any kind of event and, for us, having a venue like this, the mix is about having the best possible players. We were not entirely happy with the fields we were having and we managed to secure amazing fields with LIV.
“A lot of these players we probably would have never got if it wasn’t for LIV. For us, I would say the main issue for us is to get really, really good fields and that’s what we’re getting. We’re very happy, our members are happy, the public in the area is excited to see them play Valderrama.”
The landscape has of course flipped again since LIV’s disruptive entrance four years ago. When the breakaway league pinched Valderrama, there was a deal for five LIV tournaments to be staged in Spain over a period of seven years. Such was the optimism at that stage for reunification in men’s professional golf, the venue even inserted a clause that stipulated they would be protected in the event of a merger with the PGA and DP World Tours.
But the Valderrama deal expires in 2027 and at this stage there can be no guarantee LIV will get there. The embattled circuit is currently pursuing the alternate investment it needs to survive after the rug was pulled beneath them by the trillion-dollar Saudi Public Investment Fund. Venues, as well as players, face precarious futures as CEO Scott O’Neil takes the league to market.
“We see LIV as partners,” Revereigo, who has been GM at Valderrama since 2011, insists. “I know they’re working hard to get partnerships and sponsors into the league, so we’re fully supportive of them. In fact, we’re aligned in trying to help in securing more sponsorship and more financing. At the moment, we’re navigating through the situation. We understand the issues they’re having but at the same time, I think they’ve created a lot of value. LIV is a great product and they have great players, so there’s a foundation to secure funding and go forward. Everybody is writing off LIV and saying that they’re done. It’s a possibility, but I wouldn’t count on that.”
As it stands, Andalusian eyes are not wandering beyond LIV’s next scheduled tournament in 2027.
“Our position right now is that we’re looking forward to next year,” he says. “Until we don’t receive any other information, that’s where we stand. We’d love to host again. We haven’t discussed next year yet. We’ll probably do that in the coming days. At the moment, I don’t know. I have to wait a few days. They’re probably still figuring out the schedule for next year.
“We have a contract in place, but I think it’s too early for me to say what the outcome is going to be next year. We’re happy to do the event again next year and we’ll see what happens.”
Would Valderrama consider partnering with the DP World Tour again if LIV did fail to secure the funding it requires for long-term stability?
“We’ve partnered with the European Tour for 30 years,” Revereigo explains. “Who knows what the future will bring? Our present is LIV, but the future? I cannot disregard any other option, of course. There’s no reason why we wouldn’t consider it in the future. But as I say, right now we’re focused on the present, which is LIV. Obviously, the PIF news was difficult to navigate through, but I see no reason why they won’t keep pushing and hopefully find a solution for the future.”
The immediate future is hazy and the only thing that Revereigo can rule out with certainty right now is that Valderrama won’t stage another Ryder Cup.
The duel held 29 years ago at Valderrrama ignites memories of an impassioned captain Seve Ballesteros whizzing around the layout in his buggy barking orders at his inspired European players. The showdown will return to Spain in 2031 – but at the Camiral Wellness Resort just outside Barcelona. Revereigo says the Ryder Cup has become a logistical behemoth that has now outgrown his iconic course.
“Our Ryder Cup was amazing,” he says. “It was the Seve Ryder Cup. It was an unbelievable event. We’re very happy with the legacy and the history of that event. We haven’t considered a Ryder Cup. In terms of space, it would be difficult because the Ryder Cup has grown enormously since 1997.
“It’s not really about the golf course. Valderrama would be perfectly suited to host it. But there’s challenges in space that would make it difficult for a Ryder Cup to be played here now.”