POWER RANKINGS: 5 PLAYERS, 4 TEAMS FOR LIV GOLF ANDALUCÍA

Other winners on Mainland Europe’s best course include fellow LIV Golf members Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter, while Martin Kaymer has a pair of runner-up finishers.

This week, the 48 players in the LIV Golf League get their shot at Valderrama, with many of the non-European players seeing it for the first time. For 33 players, it’s back to work since the conclusion of LIV Golf DC a month ago; the other 15 managed to squeeze in a major (U.S. Open).

“Great golf course,” said Brooks Koepka, whose first three career wins came in Spain but has never played Valderrama until this week. “Really got to think your way around it. It can be very difficult if you're just off a little bit, and I think that's the sign of a good golf course. If you're just off a little bit, you're struggling to shoot par. But if you're playing good, you've got some chances to really shoot a low number.”

With that in mind, here are the picks for our top five players and top four teams at this week’s LIV Golf Andalucía.

FIVE PLAYERS

1. SERGIO GARCIA (Fireballs GC). The ultimate horse for this course. In 15 career starts at Valderrama, the Fireballs GC captain has 14 top-10 finishes (including those three wins). No one in the field knows this course better than the Spanish star who’s now a club member.

2. CAMERON SMITH (Ripper GC). Any other course, Smith would top the rankings. Although he hasn’t won this year, he’s in terrific form, with six consecutive worldwide top 10s. On a course of major championship quality, Smith should feel right at home.

3. BROOKS KOEPKA (Smash GC). He obviously knows what winning feels like in Spain, and he’s a good bet on any course that requires patience. And his standards are so high now that a top-20 major finish (like at the U.S. Open) is now a letdown.

4. DUSTIN JOHNSON (4Aces GC). Time for last year’s Individual Champion to make a second-half push. He’s never finished inside the top 5 in points in any LIV tournament played outside the U.S., so he’ll need to break that trend.

5. HAROLD VARNER III (RangeGoats GC). He has improved on his points results in every event since the season opener. Now that he reached the top with his win in DC, where does that leave him? We’ll see if his form has cooled off after three off-weeks.

OTHERS CONSIDERED: Expect at least one of the two young Spanish players – Eugenio Chacarra or David Puig – to make some noise in their home country … Talor Gooch leads the Individual standings so why isn’t he in the top five? Other than his two wins, he hasn’t finished inside the top 10 in any other tournament this season … Branden Grace has finished on the podium in his last two starts after a rough stretch in Adelaide and Singapore.

FOUR TEAMS

1. FIREBALLS GC. Captain Garcia will have a good week, and so well at least two of his three teammates. I’m not about to pick against the Spanish-speaking lineup unless it’s …

2. TORQUE GC. The only team with two tournament wins this season, Torque has uncovered the secret ingredient for team success. With Puig starting to step it up, they become even a bigger threat each week.

3. RANGEGOATS GC. Bubba Watson’s team comes in with four consecutive podium finishes and plenty of rest. Thomas Pieters, the only Goat who’s played a tournament the last three weeks (first two rounds at the U.S. Open), WD’d in DC with an injury.

4. 4ACES GC. I asked Dustin Johnson if he had ordered the code red on Pat Perez’s hair. “I had nothing to do with that,” said the captain. “That’s all Pat.” Doubt the new look means anything, but the Aces will still play well this week.

OTHERS CONSIDERED: The all-South African Stinger GC has been on the podium the last two tournaments and Dean Burmester seems ready for a big finish … I like Majesticks GC better for next week in London, but something tells me they’ll step up in Spain.