LIV GOLF HONG KONG

March 5, 2026

Sergio Garcia

Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling

Fireballs GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome to the media center, Sergio Garcia, captain of Fireballs GC. Welcome back. 7-under 63 to start the tournament. We were talking just a couple days ago, yesterday, about your familiarity and comfort with this course. How did it feel out there today?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, obviously it was very, very nice. The conditions were as perfect as you're going to get them to be able to score. That's why you can see some of the scores that are out there.

But it's the kind of golf course that you still have to hit shots the right way. There's a few tricky ones here and there that you have to manage, and I was able to do that for the most part.

Q. Very happy about that. Obviously last year I finished the tournament really, really well, shooting bogey-free 63, and I started this year with another bogey-free 63. Anytime you're able to do that, you're going to be happy.

Q. That's 63 holes around Fanling without a bogey. Just a little comment on that, if you wouldn't mind.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, I actually didn't know it was that many. I obviously knew I went bogey free on my last round. Maybe on the one before in the second round last year, too.

It's obviously very nice to be able to do that on a golf course that is asking you to hit a lot of different shots. Off the tee, there's a couple of tee shots that are quite tricky, like 9 and stuff like that. It's not easy to be able to do that every single time. But very happy that I was able to do that throughout the whole day, and obviously a couple of rounds last year.

Q. Dean Burmester was just in here before you. He was talking about the weekend and how the wind is going to change the course. Just from your previous experience, what might you expect the danger points to be there?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I mean, if the wind changes, then obviously there's going to be some holes that are going to be playing a lot tougher, but there's some others that are going to be playing easier.

Obviously if it turns and then 1 is playing into the wind, that's going to be a tough hole to start with. But it's the same for everyone. There's nothing -- the only thing you can do is try to play it as well as you can, be as committed and as confident as possible, and the rest will follow.

Q. Sergio, when you come to a course, a shot-maker's course like this, obviously you've won on a wide variety of courses, but is there something special about a shot-maker's course? Colonial is kind of the same way, shorter but demands a lot of great shots?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yes, I've always said it, that I've always enjoyed the courses that make you think, not the courses that you get on the tee and you know you have to hit driver as hard as you can and there's nothing else to do.

Obviously these are the kind of courses that I enjoy playing. These are the kind of courses that I feel most comfortable on, courses where if you're hitting your irons well, you hit a lot of greens, you're not too far away from the hole because the greens are not too big, other than a couple, obviously, like 17 and 13. But other than that, the greens are small, kind of like a Valderrama. If you're committed and you're hitting good shots, it always feels like you have a birdie putt. It's nothing too long or anything like that.

Obviously I was able to do that today, and very pleased with that.

Q. Did you see a 60 out there? A lot of guys were going low. Did you think 60 would be there?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yes. Obviously you can. You can do it. A lot of things have to go right. Obviously a lot of things went right for me to shoot 63 and got a couple of nice breaks a couple times. Also got a couple iffy breaks here and there. I missed a few putts early on that felt like I hit good putts and didn't go in.

But a lot of things have to go right for you to shoot 60, not only playing well, but you have to putt well. You have to get a little break here and there when maybe you don't hit the perfect shot. Obviously Carlos must have played amazing. He must have putted really well and kind of did everything the way you're supposed to.

Q. 63, respectable round you had today. Which part of your game do you think if you improved a little bit you could score even lower?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, it depends a little bit on the conditions that we play. If it gets windier and firmer, then everything becomes more challenging. I felt like I hit my irons really well today. I felt like I drove the ball, other than maybe two tee shots, I drove the ball very, very well, so that helps. A couple of times that I was in a little bit of an uncomfortable spot, I hit two really, really good shots to be able to salvage par and almost make birdie.

I think that all of those things add up nicely to a good round.