2024 Season in Review: Fireballs GC

Oct 14, 2024 - 11:04 AMWritten by: Mike McAllister

Fireballs GC hit a high point in 2024 when it won LIV Golf Andalucía in Spain at Valderrama

Fourth in a series of stories reviewing the 2024 season for each of the 13 LIV Golf League teams.

Previous reviews: 4Aces | Cleeks | Crushers

FIREBALLS QUICK REVIEW

TEAM

The high point of the season came in their home tournament in Andalucía in Spain with a sweep of both the team and individual trophies via playoffs, with captain Sergio Garcia winning his first LIV Golf title at his favorite course, Valderrama. The Fireballs added three more podium finishes but lost a heartbreaking matchup to eventual champion Ripper GC in the Team Championship semifinals.

PLAYERS (final points ranking)

Sergio Garcia (3): At age 44, he enjoyed arguably his most impressive year since his Masters-winning year of 2017. Besides his win at Valderrama, he made two other playoffs, and then moved into the bonus-paying third position in the Individual Championship with a clutch performance in Chicago.

Abraham Ancer (12): Won his first LIV Golf individual title in Hong Kong via playoff to start a stretch of four consecutive top-10 finishes. Finished with points (top 24) in 11 of 13 regular-season tournaments. A very solid, consistent year.

David Puig (26): Made the podium for the first time in his LIV Golf career with a T3 in Houston, but it was a strange season in which he played much better in his non-LIV Golf starts, with one win and four other top-5 finishes. Oh, he’s still just 22.

Eugenio Chacarra (39): Fought hard to find his groove with a series of adjustments but it never came together for the 24-year-old. His best result was a T12 at Andalucía to contribute to the team’s win.

TEAM OVERVIEW

Wins: 1 Podiums: 4 Points Finishes: 12 Seed: 6th Team Championship: 6th

COUNTING SCORES (league ranking)

Round 1: 99 under (3rd) Round 2: 99 under (6th) Round 3: 91 under (3rd) Total: 289 under (4th)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Swept both the team and individual titles in front of home fans at LIV Golf Andalucía
  • Garcia finishing 3rd in the Individual Championship standings, earning the final spot on the season-long podium
  • Garcia won first career LIV Golf title at Andalucía in a playoff, and competed in two other playoffs, finishing runner-up in Mayakoba and Miami
  • Ancer won first career LIV Golf title via playoff in Hong Kong
  • Puig’s T3 in Houston is his best-ever LIV Golf individual tournament result
  • Team finished with points in all but one tournament this season
  • Beyond LIV Golf, Puig won his second professional title at the Malaysian Open in February

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Quarterfinals: Defeated Majesticks, 3-0. Chacarra defeated Stenson, 19 holes. Puig defeated Poulter, 3 and 2. Garcia-Ancer def. Westwood-Horsfield, 2 and 1.

Semifinals: Lost to Rippers, 2-1. Chacarra lost to Leishman, 19 holes. Puig lost to Herbert, 1 up. Garcia-Ancer defeated Smith-Jones, 3 and 1.

Finals (Tier 2): 6th at 14 under. Garcia 66, Ancer 68, Chacarra 69, Puig 71.

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

EVENTTEAMGarciaAncerPuigChacarra
Mayakoba62T28T38T32
Las VegasT7T26T21T15T30
JeddahT6T15T12T15T48
Hong Kong6T381T34T15
MiamiT42T9T39T39
Adelaide10T40T9T4045
SingaporeT2T14T10T27T10
HoustonT25T24T341
Nashville8T18T18T50T18
Andalucía1126T27T12
UKT5T20T16T11T41
Greenbrier4T8T13T13T28
Chicago3T2T11T20T40

LEAGUE RANKINGS

STATISTICTEAMGarciaAncerPuigChacarra
Fwy Hit342T3840
Drive Dist.422T396T11
GIR53T9T47T35
Scrambling62312439
Putting Avg.3T29T137T43
Birdies Avg.3T154534