LIV GOLF SINGAPORE

March 11, 2026

Sergio Garcia

David Puig

Josele Ballester

Luis Masaveu

Sentosa Golf Club

Fireballs GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning. Let's welcome to the media center Fireballs GC, defending team champions of this week's Aramco LIV Golf Singapore. Thanks for joining us today. Sergio, we'll start with you. You led the Fireballs to victory here last season. When you look back on that week, what stands out most about the win for the team?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, obviously we were super happy. It was our third win in a row, so something that no team had done to that date. Very proud of that.

But this year obviously is a new year, and we're looking forward to defending our title and hopefully get going a little bit here and see if we can be successful in doing that.

Q. Josele, you currently lead the Aramco Power Play driving distance rankings - not sure if you're aware of that - 317 yards this season. Do you feel your length off the tee could be an advantage this week with the course stretching about 700 yards further than last week in Hong Kong?

JOSELE BALLESTER: If I don't hit it straight it's probably not going to be an advantage at all, so hopefully I can hit it long which is something I usually do, and straight, but yeah, I've only played nine holes so far, but I think it's a ball striker's course.

Being good in strokes gained off the tee, it's definitely a stat that is pretty important this week. So as I said, if I drive it straight, it will probably be a good week.

Q. David, you've opened the season with two top 10s in the first three events. How important is that early-season consistency for you, particularly now that the season contributes to receiving OWGR points?

DAVID PUIG: Yeah, I mean, it's really important. I think I had a good off-season, played pretty good before LIV started in January, as well, and had two good weeks here on the league.

Yeah, obviously trying to qualify for some majors and obviously want to do well here on LIV, as well. It's definitely really important to have that consistency, and hopefully I can keep playing good and making lots of birdies.

Q. Luis, you finished T14 here in Singapore last year. Can you please share your thoughts on competing here at Sentosa, and are there any things that jump out to you that players need to do really well here to have a strong finish?

LUIS MASAVEU: Yeah, last year it was my best performance. It's a great course. I think it suits my game. You have to hit it long, but at the same time, you have to hit it straight. You have to be very good off the tee, which is my strength. Yeah, I mean, it's a course where you have to play very well, as well, in all parts of the game. It's fast. If you miss the fairways, the rough, it's hard.

Yeah, it's a course where you have to play well. I think it's nice because if you play well, I think it's going to stand out, and if you play bad, as well, the same. So yeah, it's a course where you have to play well, and I'm looking forward to improving my performance from last year.

Q. Sergio, you've won tournaments in 18 different countries. Last week Rahm won in his eighth different country. Seve won on five different continents by the time he was 20. I'm curious how important it is from your perspective to be a global player, have global success, be able to win in different environments versus maybe accumulating a lot of wins in one or two countries?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, well, I mean, it obviously depends who you ask. But from my perspective, obviously golf is a global game, and that's what we want to do. We want to promote the game, our beautiful game, the game that we love everywhere in the world.

I've been very fortunate to do well, like you said, pretty much all over the world. That's something that makes me very proud. It shows that I've tried to display or to show my game and my country, and now obviously our team, the Fireballs, everywhere we go and tried to perform to the best of our ability everywhere we go.

It's fun to be able to do that and see the excitement from the people all the different places that we get to play. That's something that is very exciting.

Q. Josele, talking about long drives, you have the longest drive this season, 379 yards. I'm curious, do you know what your longest drive ever is?

JOSELE BALLESTER: No. I mean, I've had many long drives in my life. Maybe a couple over 400 yards, but I have no idea, honestly. I wish I could give you an accurate answer.

Q. David, do you know what your longest drive is?

DAVID PUIG: It's now how you drive, it's how you arrive. (Laughter.)

No, I don't know. I think he hit one really long in Chicago, right, at Bolingbrook or something? On a par-5, that rolled like 270 yards?

JOSELE BALLESTER: I agree. Fairways were pretty firm that week. Carry distance, no idea.

Q. Luis, can you tell us what's going on in the final round with you? You're 19-under this year on the final rounds. You're just killing it on Sunday. What's kind of been the secret? What kind of approach have you taken that day?

LUIS MASAVEU: I think I just really started better. I haven't got off to good starts the other rounds. I think, yeah, I talked with my team, and we saw a little bit the difference what was going on, and as well mentally.

Yeah, I just need to try to do what I've been doing Sundays more, start better, and I think I play too aggressive the other rounds, trying to push since I didn't start as well, and on Sundays I just started good and I just let the round going, so I think I just need to do that more.

Q. How important is it to have momentum from the start of the season as you did last year?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, it's important. It's not obviously ultimate, but anytime you start well in your season, it's always nice. It gives you confidence. It kind of helps you relax a little bit more because you know that you're doing well.

But the season is six or seven months long, so it's not ultimate that you have to start well. Obviously that's what we all try to do, play our best from the beginning, but unfortunately sometimes that doesn't happen, and you've just got to keep working hard at it and keep believing and then wait for your moment to arrive.

Q. This golf course is considered quite a difficult one. Which holes do you consider the most critical for gaining an early advantage for the team?

SERGIO GARCIA: It is a good golf course. It is a golf course that obviously if you play well, you can score in. Some of the par-5s are gettable. You have some par-3s that you can make ground on. Then there's a handful of tough par-4s.

Obviously if you're making pars there, you're not really losing any ground. You're probably gaining a little bit.

But it's the kind of golf course that you have to be consistent throughout the whole round. It's not just one given thing. That's why it's the kind of golf course it is.

We're looking forward to it.

Q. Sergio, as a team captain, how do you keep the team motivated throughout the season?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I mean, these guys are great to -- they're very easy to get motivated. They're young, they're hungry, they work hard. They're great players.

It's quite simple to do it. We love kind of pushing each other and having little games here and there to keep us going. I'm very fortunate to have such an amazing team to take care of and kind of try to motivate, I guess.

Q. How much freedom do the players have within the team structure, and how do you keep the balance of leadership with letting players play their own game?

SERGIO GARCIA: No, everybody plays their own game, at the end of the day. I think that we obviously give feedback to each other, trying to help each other as much as possible.

But I'm not going to tell Josele or David or Luis how to play because, first of all, they can't tell me how to play because I can't hit it as far as they can. Obviously we all have differences in the game, and the way we feel comfortable playing it, and it's just a matter of finding that comfort within yourself and then building on that momentum.

I think they're all in good shape, and I'm excited to watch them throughout the year.

Q. Sergio, you've been here a number of times. What have been some changes about the course that you've noticed so far over your years since the first time you played here until today? Is anything noticeable you've seen about changes on the course?

SERGIO GARCIA: A couple of things in there but not a whole lot. I think this course has been so good throughout the years that it really hasn't needed any much tinkering and stuff like that. A couple of tees here and there maybe, maybe a couple of the greens they've made a tiny bit bigger in a couple spots.

But other than that, it looks pretty similar to what it was maybe 10 or 15 years ago. So that speaks volumes for the course.

Q. Josele, have you played the course with Sergio, and if not, how much do you lean on him as a player who's won here before and kind of questions about the course and where the misses are and things like that?

JOSELE BALLESTER: I did play with him nine holes actually. We played the front, and I thought it was really difficult so I could ask him some questions. He's had a lot of success on this golf course, and it's always nice to hear advice from him.

But as he said before at the end, it's kind of my decision, my plays. We have different game styles, so we have to rely on those at the end. But it's always nice to ask your captain for advice.

Q. Sergio, you talked about the differences between you and these guys. Looking back on your career, are there any qualities in these three players that kind of remind you of a young Sergio?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, well, I mean, obviously the game has changed from when I was 19 or 20 and now, without a doubt. But yeah, I do obviously see that energy they have, that will to play hard and practice hard and that hunger of achieving things. At the same time, the disappointment when they don't play as well as they know they can play.

It's nice to see that fire in their eyes. All three are amazing players. I know that they're going to be unbelievable. I'm just excited to be here for the ride and enjoy with them.

Q. As a team, do you see it as an opportunity or a place you guys can be great ball strikers and maybe start getting your season going and win a team event because this is a course that actually asks you to strike the ball well and hit it far and hit long irons and things that you guys all do well?

DAVID PUIG: No, yeah, definitely. It's one of those courses that if you have a solid week, it kind of tells you where your game is at. So obviously if you do a good job this week and with ball-striking and around the greens and stuff like that, it definitely builds your confidence up a little bit.

If you don't do as good, you can always rely on it's a tough course, and hopefully it doesn't really destroy you that much, in that perspective.

But yeah, it's one of those weeks that if you play well, it definitely helps build that momentum towards the rest of the season.

Q. David, you've won a team title here. You've won an individual title on a different course in Singapore. Just curious, which celebration was most memorable?

DAVID PUIG: I don't know. I don't think we celebrated that much last year, did we?

SERGIO GARCIA: We were all tired from the heat.

DAVID PUIG: It's exhausting. When I won as an individual, like it was definitely great, but I don't think we celebrated that much. Five hours, six hours on a golf course like this, or the other one, it definitely makes you tired. So you don't really have a lot of energy after that.

But yeah, for some reason, I won in Malaysia, as well, which is next door, which is hot, and here it's hot. I've played well in these conditions. It's something that I enjoy. So hopefully we can keep going. It would be great. If we win this year, I'll make sure we celebrate properly.