Pablo Larrazábal Corominas (born 15 May 1983) is a Spanish

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

. He also played in the inaugural

LIV Golf Invitational Series LIV Golf ( ) is a professional men's golf tour. The name "LIV" refers to the Roman numerals for 54, the number of holes played at LIV events. The first LIV Golf Invitational Series event started on 9 June 2022, at the Centurion Club near St Alban ...

event at the Centurion Club.

Early life

Larrazábal was born in

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...

. He attended high school in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and returned to Spain in 2002 with the intention of turning professional but his father made him work on the family fish farm in

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

to understand the value of money.

Professional career

Larrazábal turned professional in 2004.

2006–2007: Challenge Tour

Larrazábal played in 8 events on the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...

in 2006 and made 7 cuts. His best finish came at the Vodafone Challenge where he was tied for seventh, his only top ten finish of the year. He earned €7,160 on the year and finished 138th on the money list. Larrazábal played in 17 events in 2007 and made 10 cuts while recording two top 10 finishes and six top 25 finishes. His best finish came at the

Postbank Challenge The Postbank Challenge was a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour that was played in 2007 at Golfclub Mülheim an der Ruhr near Mülheim, Germany. It was hosted by European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for spo ...

where he finished in fourth. He earned €21,596 on the year and finished 69th on the money list. Larrazábal finished in a tie for sixth at Q-School and earned his card for the European Tour's 2008 season.

2008: Rookie of the Year and first European Tour title

In his rookie season on tour, Larrazábal played in 28 events and made 17 cuts. Larrazábal won his first title on the European Tour at the

Open de France The Open de France is a European Tour golf tournament. Inaugurated in 1906 it is the oldest national open in Continental Europe and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the tour's inception in 1972. The 100th edition of the event ...

where he led after all four rounds; he had gained entry to the tournament through a 36-hole qualifier. He also had an impressive finish at the Madrid Masters where he finished in third. Larrazábal recorded three top 10 finishes and 7 top 25 finishes. He finished in 18th on the Order of Merit, earning €960,858. This propelled him to the

Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

award.

2009–2010: Inconsistency and struggle for form

Larrazábal had an inconsistent year in 2009 on the European Tour, with only a single top ten finish, and three top 25 finishes. He finished ranked 86th on the inaugural

Race to Dubai The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

. The following season was not much better for Larrazábal, making 18 of 31 cuts and finishing in the top ten on three occasions. He earned €332,500 in the 2010 season and finished 88th in the Race to Dubai standings.

2011: Improved form and second European Tour win

Larrazábal started the 2011 season with a fifth-place finish in India at the Avantha Masters before finishing third in his home country's national tournament, the

Open de España The Acciona Open de España (formerly the Spanish Open) is the national open golf championship of Spain. It was founded in 1912 and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the inception of the Tour in 1972. The tournament has been pl ...

finishing three strokes behind the winner

Thomas Aiken Thomas Edward Aiken (born 16 July 1983) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and Sunshine Tour. Amateur career Aiken had a successful amateur career. He was earned the South African Amateur of the Year award in ...

. A month later he finished fourth at the Saab Wales Open shooting a 67 during the final round to move through the field and into the top five. In June 2011, Larrazábal won his second European Tour title at the

BMW International Open The BMW International Open is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour held in Germany. History Founded in 1989, it was held near BMW's home city of Munich every year until 2012. From 1989 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2011 ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

beating compatriot

Sergio García Sergio García Fernández (; born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He turned professional in 1999 and played on the European Tour and PGA Tour prior to joining LIV Golf in 2022. García has won 36 international tournaments as ...

in a sudden death playoff. Both men entered the final round trailing by two strokes, but fired rounds of 68 to finish on sixteen under par. Larrazábal had a putt to win outright at the 72nd hole but that slipped by, allowing García to birdie the last to take them into a playoff. After both players made birdies at the 18th, on the first and second playoff holes, they advanced to the par three 12th and the par three 17th, where Larrazábal let two more ten footers slide by for the championship. However at the fifth extra hole, the par five 18th, García ran his eagle putt four feet past, with Larrazábal two feet away in three. García's birdie putt then lipped out and Larrazábal holed out for victory. This win came three weeks after Larrazábal had missed out in a playoff himself in an

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

qualifier at Sunningdale, but the win has ensured himself of a place at the

2011 Open Championship The 2011 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 140th Open Championship, held from 14 to 17 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England. Darren Clarke won his first and to date only major champion ...

at Royal St. George's. Larrazábal ended the season ranked 17th on the

, his highest finish to date.

2012

Larrazábals best finishes in 2012 were a pair of tied for second places: at the Reale Seguros Open de España in May and at the

KLM Open The Dutch Open, now again called the KLM Open, is an annual golf tournament played in the Netherlands, and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the Tour was inaugurated in 1972. History and sponsorship Founded in 1912, the tour ...

in September.

2014

In January 2014, Larrazábal won the

Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is a European Tour golf tournament held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. When founded in 2006, it was one of three European Tour events to be staged in the Arabian Peninsula, but at one point was one of six. Hist ...

by one stroke over

Rory McIlroy Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking and has spent over 100 weeks in that position du ...

and

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...

. In a bizarre incident in April, Larrazábal was attacked by a swarm of

hornet Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the Eusociality, eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to yellowjackets, their close relatives. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other Vespi ...

s during the second round of the

Maybank Malaysian Open The Malaysian Open is a men's professional golf tournament that is currently played on the Asian Tour, and was formerly played on the European Tour. Notable past winners include world number one golfers Vijay Singh and Lee Westwood (both playe ...

and resorted to jumping into a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

to escape. He received around 20 stings, but still managed to card a round of 68.

2015

In June 2015, Larrazábal won his second

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. This was his fourth career title on the

2019

In December, Larrazábal won the

Alfred Dunhill Championship The Alfred Dunhill Championship is a men's professional golf tournament which is played in South Africa. It is part of the Southern African Sunshine Tour and is one of several events in South Africa that are co-sanctioned by the more prestigiou ...

Leopard Creek Country Club Leopard Creek Country Club is a Gary Player-designed country club in Malalane, South Africa. The course sits at the border of Kruger National Park, with the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga) snaking through some fairways. The course is owned by Sout ...

in South Africa by one stroke over

Joel Sjöholm Joel Nils Patricio Sjöholm (born 21 February 1985) is a Swedish professional golfer, who has played on the European Tour and the Challenge Tour. He has won twice on the Challenge Tour; in 2017 Challenge Tour, 2017 and 2022 Challenge Tour, 2022. ...

. This event was also co-sanctioned by the

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the Southern Africa Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the F ...

2022

Larrazábal claimed his sixth European Tour victory in March at the MyGolfLife Open in South Africa. He beat Jordan Smith with a birdie at the second extra hole of a playoff after

Adri Arnaus Adrià Arnaus Antúnez (born 17 October 1994) is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. He won the 2022 Catalunya Championship on the European Tour. Amateur career Arnaus attended Texas A&M University from 2012 to 2016. ...

had been eliminated on the first playoff hole. A month later, at the ISPS Handa Championship in Spain, Larrazábal shot a final-round 62 to win by one shot ahead of

Adrián Otaegui } Adrián Otaegui Jaúregui (born 21 November 1992) is a Spanish-Emirati professional golfer from San Sebastián who plays on the European Tour where he has won five times. He also played in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series. Amateur ca ...

. It was his seventh European Tour win.

2023

In April, Larrazábal won his eighth European Tour title at the Korea Championship by two strokes ahead of

Marcus Helligkilde Marcus Helligkilde (born 5 October 1996) is a Danish professional golfer. In 2021, he won the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge and Swiss Challenge on the Challenge Tour and finished the season as the winner of the Challenge Tour Rankings. Career ...

. In May, he won the

in the Netherlands, winning by two shots over

Personal life

Larrazábal's older brother

Alejandro Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander ( Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros ( Greek), Alsander ( Irish), Alessandro ( Italian), Aleksand ...

won

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

in 2002, with the teenage Pablo acting as caddy. Their Venezuelan father Gustavo and Catalan mother Elena both played golf to a high standard. Larrazábal is a lifelong friend of former

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

player

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and spent most of his career at La Liga club Barcelona. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was known ...

, having attended

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; ), is FC Barcelona's youth academy. It includes more than 300 young players and has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success, producing several world class players and ...

together when they were younger.

Professional wins (10)

European Tour wins (9)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

²Co-sanctioned by the

Korean Tour The Korean Tour is a men's professional golf tour run by the Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) of South Korea. In 2011, it had total prize money of about United States dollar, US$14 million. Professional golf in Korea dates back to ...

European Tour playoff record (2–2)

Alps Tour wins (1)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2011 Open Championship – 2012 Open Championship) *Longest streak of top-10s – 0

Results in World Golf Championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2015.'' ¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = no tournament
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

(representing Spain):

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

European Boys' Team Championship The European Boys' Team Championship (Jean-Louis Dupont Trophy) is a European amateur team golf championship for men up to 18 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1980 and it has been played annually since. S ...

(representing Spain): 2001 *

European Youths' Team Championship The European Youths' Team Championship was a European amateur team golf championship for men under 22 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1961. It was played every year until 1982, then every second year. It ...

(representing Spain): 2002 Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing Spain):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Royal Trophy The Royal Trophy was a men's professional team golf tournament which was played between 2006 and 2013. The competing teams represented Europe and Asia. Eight man teams played a series of 16 matches involving foursomes, four-ball and singles for the ...

(representing Europe):

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Seve Trophy The Seve Trophy was a biennial golf tournament between teams of professional male golfers; one team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the other team representing Continental Europe. The tournament was played in years when there is no Ryde ...

(representing Continental Europe):

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

EurAsia Cup The EurAsia Cup was a biennial men's professional team golf tournament between teams representing Europe and Asia. It started in 2014, superseding the Royal Trophy which had been played from 2006 to 2013. It was previously held at the Glenmarie ...