Garcia Wins 1st Major Title at the Masters

None of them saw the sunny side of par Sunday.

As Day teed off a smattering of fans who watched did double takes to make sure it was actually Day on the course. “He was playing extremely well”, Garcia said.

“I’m surprised how cool I felt”.

Along with the happy reflections of the people around him – including Angela Akins, the former Golf Channel reporter he plans to marry in July – that final burst of emotion was thinking about “moments that unfortunately didn’t go the way I wanted”.

Garcia and Rose began overtime after finishing four rounds of golf at 9 under.

Not since 1998 have the last two players on the course gone to the 18th tied for the lead, and both had their chances to win.

Garcia was guilty of another poor stroke as he parred the 17th, but Rose – who had played a smart shot out of a greenside bunker – missed with a seven-foot putt for a four, leaving things level once again. Rose’s attempt grazed right by the hole, causing him to gasp and clasp his hand over his mouth.

The putt Rose missed on 17. Both golfers brought home $484,000. Their closest pursuers included Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, and lesser lights Ryan Moore and Charley Hoffman.

Augusta National has always claimed to be committed to maintaining social traditions, which is troubling when you consider those traditions date back to mid-1930’s Georgia.

Garcia got rid of the demons and the doubts with two big moments on the par 5s – one a par, the other an eagle – in closing with a 3-under 69.

Ballesteros tragically died aged 54 in 2011 after a long battle with brain cancer, but on Sunday at Augusta National the two-time Masters champion was not forgotten. If not for Garcia getting out of treacherous territory, Rose might have been competing against someone else down the stretch. “I feel if he misses there I’m full clear and looking at Thomas Pieters and Matt Kuchar“. “In 13 years I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to play for second or third place”.

“I think the problem is, because where my head was at sometimes, I did think about, am I ever going to win one?“. “I was like, ‘Well, if that’s what’s supposed to happen, let it happen”.

Garcia’s fourth shot, a wedge, left him with a 6-footer for par; Rose’s third, a chip, stopped at 7 feet for birdie. He hit a famous shot from behind a tree, with his eyes closed, then scissor-kicked up the fairway to see where it landed (on the green). Predictably, he came back to the pack Friday but remained in a four-way tie for the top after 36 holes. He led by as many as three over Rose after five holes, but made the turn tied after Rose rattled off three straight birdies. As the highly anticipated shootout among some of the games greats became a two-man duel between Garcia and Rose, the chance to write a fairy-tale ending was there.

Luckily for Garcia, Rose – the 2013 U.S. Open champ and the reigning Olympic gold medalist – put his playoff tee shot in the pines, a mistake that eased the pressure on Garcia ultimately cost Rose the Masters. Some golfers can go two decades giving themselves one, maybe two shots at winning on a Masters Sunday.

“I’m going to be disappointed for about a month but then golf will take over and I’ll go after my goals with the US Open and Open at Royal Birkdale coming up. I was very calm, much calmer than yesterday, much calmer than I’ve felt probably in any in any major championship on Sunday”, he said.