At the 74th attempt after After 19 years of near-misses and frustration, with a whopping 22 times top 10 finishes, Spain’s Sergio Garcia ended his wait for a golf major in dramatic defeat of Justin Rose in a playoff to become the 81st Masters Tournament champion.
Garcia himself had said, in a moment of self-pity, that he didn’t have what it takes to win a major. Four times he was runner-up including- twice each at the British Open and the PGA Championship. This was his third time playing in the final group. But right when it looked to be over, momentum shifted to Garcia.
Sergio Garcia with the 81st Masters trophy
After being tied through 72 holes at 9-under-par, it took one playoff hole to dub Garcia the winner. Garcia birdied the hole, while Rose bogeyed.
It became an afternoon of back-and-forth between the two. The two entered the afternoon as the last pairing at 6-under.
Garcia and Rose both had birdie putts on the 16th hole. Rose made his, while Garcia just missed his. But after Rose bogeyed on 17, the two entered the final hole tied. Both parred to go to a playoff.
It’s the first major PGA win for Garcia.
Garcia says he has learned to accept bad bounces. He realized he has a “beautiful life” even if he never won a major. “If it, for whatever reason, didn’t happen, my life is still going to go on. It’s not going to be a disaster,” Garcia said.
And then smiling, he added, “But it happened.”
