Garcia in landmark Masters triumph

“I get to call myself Masters champion and that’s wonderful. And being calm and not letting things get to me that I’ve done in the past”.

Sergio Garcia, of Spain, reacts in front of Justin Rose, of England, after making an eagle putt on the 15th hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 9, 2017, in Augusta, Ga.

It was the 37-year-old’s first major triumph at the 74th attempt and came after a number of near-misses in the game’s biggest events, including four runners-up finishes among 22 top-10s. He’ll be paired with Rose, a friend, for the final 18 holes. Back-to-back bogeys on 10 and 11 had brought the doubt back, but then Garcia responded with an incredible two-hole turn at No. 14 and No. 15.

And so, on what would have been the 60th birthday of his late, great compatriot Severiano Ballesteros, he found the inner strength to see off Rose at the first hole of a playoff.

It didn’t come easy because nothing ever has at Augusta National for Sergio Garcia, but it came at last yesterday evening on the 73rd hole of the 81st Masters. Both had short birdie putts at the final hole to win outright, but both missed. Seemingly rejuvenated, he then fired an approach to six feet at the 14th, setting up a birdie, before topping that with a stunning second on the next that led to an eagle.

He struck back on the 14th, capitalising on a bogey from Rose to move within a shot of the Englishman.

“Obviously this is something I wanted to do for a long time but, you know, it never felt like a horror movie”, Garcia said afterward.

“This tournament was just not for me”, said the South African, a Masters runner-up in 2000 and 2004. But for the most part I’m not going to sit here and second-guess one or two shots. I really stepped up.

“I felt I was in complete control but it wasn’t enough”, Rose later lamented. So if you guys wouldn’t mind putting me with Jose, it would be great!

Rickie Fowler was third at 5 under while Jordan Spieth, the 2015 Masters victor, headed a group of three who were two strokes back. Two holes later, Rose was up by two strokes. Matt Kuchar made a hole-in-one on the 16th that gave him hope but not for very long. “He deserves it”, Rose said.

Garcia seemed so certain that fate had it in for him that like Pigpen from the cartoon strip “Peanuts”, he didn’t dare look up. Justin played beautifully. Sergio just finished it better than he did.

Indeed, it was at Augusta that a frustrated Garcia famously claimed he felt he would never win a major, after a poor third round in 2012.

Ballesteros, the Spanish talisman who died of brain cancer in 2011, inspired a generation of golfers in his country, winning Green Jacket twice in 1980 and 1983.

“Just a bit freakish, ” Spieth said. The 57-year-old shot 70, closing with a brilliant birdie on the 18th hole for a 143 at the midway point.

Augusta National has a traffic jam atop the leaderboard heading into the third round of the Masters, a logjam that will likely take the entire weekend to untangle.

“We’re both very excited about the future, and I think being comfortable in your private life is a good thing”.