LIV GOLF VIRGINIA

May 9, 2026

Sergio Garcia

Trump National DC

Fireballs GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back Sergio Garcia, captain of Fireballs GC. 7-under 65, currently in second place, now just three shots back of the lead. How proud are you of not only your start today but also your finish on those last two?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yes. Obviously I started really, really well. I mean, dream start, hitting a lot of good shots, a lot of quality shots, making a lot of those 8 to 12, 15-footers for birdie.

Then obviously I struggled a little bit. I kind of lost my feel for like three or four holes there, made a great, great par, one of the best pars I made in my career on 13 obviously.

But very proud of the way I fought those last couple of holes after the couple of bogeys on 14 and 16. To be able to finish birdie, birdie there, it was -- it meant a lot.

Q. If we can talk about 13 for a minute. I don't know how many times you can remember getting your feet wet, but just talk us through that approach, the decision to get in the water there. Then obviously saving that par.

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, needless to say, I need to take a nice shower and make sure that I wash my feet nicely. It was very muddy.

Yeah, obviously hit a terrible drive, but I got very, very fortunate for the ball to kind of just trickle into the water. So it was in the water, but it was probably three-quarters of the ball, maybe half of the ball was out.

I knew that obviously it was a tricky, it was a risky shot because there was a big bank. If I didn't catch it clean, it was going to be difficult to carry all the way to like the bunker, the left bunker. So I was hoping to catch it clean and maybe fade it a little bit and hit it somewhere towards the right side of the green. But I needed to make sure to catch it clean, but at the same time, I needed to get it up in the air.

It was tricky with it being muddy and having no shoes and everything, but I felt like my feet were quite stuck in the mud. I was able to catch it a little bit too clean, but it cleared and then hit a pretty good chip, didn't have a great lie there, and made a great putt for par. So that was nice.

Unfortunately, we were on the clock. So then it kind of rushed me a little bit on the next hole. We're a little bit wondering if the wind was hurting or not. I was kind of a little bit in between clubs. I kind of rushed it a little bit with the 9-iron and tried to hit hard and pulled it and then a little bit the same thing with the putter and stuff. Then I actually got a bad time on the next.

It just kept getting a little bit trickier for me. Obviously I was able to calm down a little bit and play the last two holes very nicely.

Q. Do you remember the last time you had to hit a shot in competition without your shoes and socks on?

SERGIO GARCIA: I have done it. I have done it several times. Do I remember? Probably my guess would be probably four or five years ago, I would have to guess. I have hit a couple of times with my shoes on because the water was kind of shallow and stuff, but I definitely have done it. I can't really tell you exactly where.

Q. Obviously you cut into Lucas' lead. The group tied for third is five shots behind you. Do you feel like it's essentially a two-person race at this point?

SERGIO GARCIA: Only if we play well. Today you saw the quality of players we have out here with Josele shooting 12-under and Jon shooting 7 and some of the guys shooting 8 or 9 or whatever they were shooting. Obviously the conditions were great.

You can't just think, oh, it's just Lucas and I. Obviously if we play well, it will be him and I, but we still have to go out there and play well. There's still 18 holes to go, and anything can happen out there.

Q. I know you're in the heat of battle for your own round, but were you -- or how aware were you of what Josele was doing?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, not only that, but the whole team. I think they told me it was the lowest round we've had as a team in our history. So very proud of all of them. Obviously the way Josele was playing today, I mean, I can't even imagine how well he must have played. Obviously I felt like I got off to a great start being 6-under through eight, but it's not easy to kind of keep it going.

Very, very proud of the way all of them are playing and the way that Josele's just becoming better and better as we go on.

Q. Just being around Josele all the time, based on his physical and mental traits, would you be surprised if he was a top player in the world one day?

SERGIO GARCIA: No, not at all. Same thing with David and even Luis. I think Luis still needs to get a lot more comfortable out here, but David is a helluva player. He's been showing it for a while now. I've said it for a long time.

But Josele obviously, I knew Josele a little bit more than David because we come from the same town in Spain and obviously he's played at my home course and been coached by my dad for about 10 years now, something like that. So we've known each other for a long time, and I've always seen the qualities that he brings to the golf course, and I'm very proud to see how well he's doing.

Q. Do you see your role in ushering this new wave of Spanish talent through LIV, do you see that as part of your legacy when all is said and done?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah. I don't know if it's part of my legacy or not, but definitely it's something that I love doing. It's something that Seve and José María did for me when I came out. I did it a little bit for Jon, but he didn't need much help, as we can all see.

It is nice to be able to do that and see youngsters coming out of your country and playing the game of golf great and showing what they can do. It's something that is very satisfying, and I'm definitely enjoying it a lot.

Q. Sergio, your putting stroke looks absolutely awesome right now. You've gone to cross-handed putting, which a lot of great players over the years -- Palmer, Nicklaus -- said if they had to start it in the very beginning, they would have putted that way because your shoulders get more lined up. Talk a little bit about how that's made a difference for you.

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I've done it in the past. I remember I think it was 2005, I putted cross-handed for a while there. Yeah, I do like it. It definitely helps you be a lot more level with your shoulders, which helps. My wife also putted -- well, still putts left hand low throughout her whole career. She's always happy when I try it.

You know, at the end of the day, it's just about feeling comfortable. Obviously I would love to keep working on it hard. It's been nice. It's felt good. You're going to miss some putts here and there. It's not easy. But for the most part, I'm very happy about the way it has felt. I've only been really working on it for the last week and a half. So I need to keep putting a lot of work on it and get more and more comfortable with it.