He attended high school in the United States 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 to understand the value of money.

Larrazábal won his first title on the European Tour at the Open de France where he led after all four rounds;[1] he had gained entry to the tournament through a 36-hole qualifier.

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 in Munich beating compatriot Sergio García in a sudden death playoff.

[6] In January 2014, Larrazábal won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship by one stroke over Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson.

[7] In a bizarre incident in April, Larrazábal was attacked by a swarm of hornets during the second round of the Maybank Malaysian Open and resorted to jumping into a lake to escape.

In December, Larrazábal won the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa by one stroke over Joel Sjöholm.

[11] In April, Larrazábal won his eighth European Tour title at the Korea Championship by two strokes ahead of Marcus Helligkilde.

[3][15][1] Larrazábal is a lifelong friend of former FC Barcelona player Andrés Iniesta, having attended La Masia together when they were younger.

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 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.