AUGUSTA, Ga. >> There were so many times during Sunday’s final round at the Masters that Sergio Garcia could have turned in his golf clubs at the caddyshack, but didn’t.
In 70 previous major championships as a pro, the popular Spaniard found countless ways not to make it to the trophy presentation, but on this late night at Augusta National, the 37-year-old finally won his first major championship in golf.
It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was about as difficult a win as anyone watching the back nine can attest as he climbed up off the deck more times than Paul Newman in his famous fight with George Kennedy in the movie “Cool Hand Luke.”
Beginning the day tied for the lead with Englishman Justin Rose, Garcia managed a fast start with two birdies on the first three holes to take a two-shot advantage in the early going. And then — didn’t sink another one until the par-4 14th. In between, he managed six consecutive pars to close out the front nine, then produced back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 10 and 11 to fall two shots behind Rose with seven to play.
It was about this time that everyone in the press room began writing about how Garcia can’t win the big one. If there were any holdouts on that story line after the 11th, they were gone after watching Garcia drive his ball into the thicket at 13, forcing him to drop it as Rose watched from the fairway.
But then something magical happened.
Garcia salvaged an incredible par and Rose missed a 4-footer for birdie to maintain only a two-shot advantage heading to 14. Nobody other than Garcia or Rose was perhaps aware of it, but the rest of us got the general idea in a hurry.
A birdie by Garcia at 14 and an incredible eagle at 15 resulted in both golfers being tied as they headed to the par-3 16th, the patrons barely able to contain themselves as the two Europeans were somehow tied with three holes to go.
Both stuffed it close at the same hole where American Matt Kuchar woke up golf fans around the world a half-hour before with a hole-in-one that eventually led him to a tie for fourth with Thomas Pieters.
But that was a sidebar at best after Rose knocked in his birdie putt and Garcia missed his to fall one back with two to play. Once again, everyone in the press room was kicking some dirt on Garcia and writing how an Englishman, defending champion Danny Willett, was about to slip the green jacket on a countryman.
Then Rose faltered once more, hitting his approach into the bunker and then missing a 7-footer for par that allowed Garcia to draw even once more. They walked to the 18th tee as the orange sun was heading to the horizon in the west and the pale full moon was rising in the east.
If you didn’t have an aisle seat at 18 already, it was far too late to get one now as 30,000 patrons lined the fairway from tee to green to see what these two golfers would produce next. The drama was as thick as the cigar-filled air as each golfer hit remarkable drives and approach shots into the green.
Rose’s second almost went into the bunker guarding the right side, but kicked left hole high to about 7 feet. Garcia went flag hunting with his approach and almost found it, landing about 5 feet beyond and above the hole, prompting a thumb’s up from Rose as they walked to the green, the patrons rising as one, knowing they were here for an instant classic.
Rose’s birdie try just slid by, missing by less than a dimple, much to his dismay. It gave Garcia a chance to win outright. And guess what? His wasn’t even close, going wide right, prompting one writer to say, “He couldn’t beat me.”
The two misses set up a playoff that was almost anticlimactic by comparison. So much so, a lot of fans headed to the exit while the two golfers went back to 18the tee where Rose made a mess of it with his drive and Garcia didn’t, eventually sinking a birdie putt to seal the deal.
At the start, it was a conflicted crowd that watched the fantastic final round at Augusta National, one that couldn’t decide whether to pull for the Europeans or the Americans, Garcia or Rickie Fowler.
The largest moving gallery on the front nine were those following Fowler and Jordan Spieth. Right behind them in Sunday’s final pairing were Garcia and Rose, with the loudest roars belonging to the eventual champion with early birdies at Nos. 1 and 3.
It became apparent early on that Spieth didn’t have anything left in his tank after making up so many shots in rounds two and three to get back into contention after opening with a 3-over 75. The smart money was on Rose, the unflappable Englishman who held off Phil Mickelson to win the 2013 U.S. Open. The 36-year-old also pocketed the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics and has the right blend of physical talent and mental toughness needed to win an event as huge as this one.
There was a lot of movement from groups ahead of the final four of Rose, Garcia, Fowler and Spieth. Past Masters champion Charl Schwartzel did his best to get into the game, before finishing third. So did Kuchar, Pieters and Paul Casey, but as Rose and Garcia made the turn for home, it became increasingly clear that one of these European lads would be wearing the green jacket in two hours or so.
Garcia was the first to blink at No. 10, hitting his second shot into the pine straw to the right of the green, with Rose knocking his second shot short out front. Rose saved par and Garcia bogeyed to fall one off the pace.
Fowler made a mess of things at Nos. 11 and 12, leading to back-to-back bogeys to effectively remove him from the chase. At about that same moment, a roar that rocked those of us at Amen Corner echoed off the piney hills signifying a hole-in-one at 16 by Kuchar that dropped him into a tie for third at 5 under for the tournament.
He gave the golf ball to a kid wearing an orange Fowler Puma shirt and an old-style press hat adorned with an Arnie’s Army badge. The expression on his young face was almost as good as Kuchar’s after the golf ball rolled back into the hole.
But despite all these sideshows, the day belonged to Garcia. And oh, what a day it was.
———
Paul Arnett, Star-Advertiser sports editor, provides daily insight from Augusta.
