The new champion of Spanish golf: Who is Sergio Garcia?
As if there weren't enough figures in the sport to be proud of, Spain also managed to make room for Sergio Garcia, who won his first Masters victory at the age of 37. Sergio Garcia won his first championship in his 19th Masters, becoming the third Spanish and eighth European player in history to achieve this.
El Nino's success was important not only for his career but also for his country, which retired its legends at the top of many branches in the 2000s. Maybe this was one of the reasons why even the Spanish football media announced this success in the headlines.
Garcia made history as the third Spaniard to win a major tournament after Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal.
Moreover, he achieved this success on the 60th birthday of his idol Ballesteros, who died due to a brain tumor in 2011. After the tournament, he said, “There were moments during the game that Seve came to my mind. "I can even say that it helped in some shots," he said.
Sergio García Fernández (born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has played on the European Tour, PGA Tour and currently plays in the LIV Golf Invitational Series. García has won 36 international tournaments as a professional, most notably the 2008 Players Championship and the 2017 Masters Tournament. García was also the Chairman of Spanish football team CF Borriol.
Ballesteros made his name in golf history by becoming the first European to win the Masters in 1980, the year Garcia was born.
Garcia, who won his first major tournament in his seventy-fourth participation, had not hesitated to say in previous years that he might never win in his life. But he did not allow this situation to put pressure on him. So much so that, in his own words, the championship match he won against British rival Justin Rose did not turn into a horror movie even for a moment: “Maybe it felt like a bit of a drama. Of course, it is one of those with a happy ending...”
His 400 weeks in the top 10 of the world rankings deserved a major tournament win. However, his advancing age was far from a guarantee of this. The advice in the message he received on his mobile phone from his other idol, Jose Olazabal, the night before the final match, was also aimed at overcoming this.
Olazabal summarized; He was saying that he believed that he would succeed, that he should keep his peace and not let his past bad experiences guide him. In his statement after the tournament, Garcia stated that this message made him feel very good and that changing his way of thinking helped him achieve the result.
“Whether there is a major tournament in my career or not, it doesn't matter. I always told myself the same thing; I have a wonderful life. “I always feel comforted in knowing that I have so many people around me who love and support me.”
Congratulations were for the Spaniard after his title shot; From the message he received on his phone from King Felipe VI to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Twitter posts...
But still, the most important thing for him was the motivational message he received from Olazabal. And the real importance of this victory was that from now on his name would be mentioned together with his two idols, Ballesteros and Olazabal.
Sergio Garcia won his first championship in his 19th Masters, becoming the third Spanish and eighth European player in history to achieve this. This victory brought him not only the Green Jacket but also the right to enter the Masters tournaments during his time in the game. He continued to celebrate this historical moment in his simple style: “I am very happy, but I do not feel different than I am. This is a very exciting thing. But I'm still the same person. "Nothing will change in my life."