Justin Rose looked set to bloom in a Masters without the azealas in full colour until Sergio Garcia delivered one of the most popular sporting triumphs of all time.
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“I don’t even know how many there are, but so many majors in a row and giving myself a lot of chances to win them”, Garcia said, “that for me is already a win”. “It’s a handsome thing to have”. Rose relentlessly made par after par, taking a two shot lead as Garcia’s time ran short. And on the kind of pristine day Montgomerie talked about, Rose and Sergio Garcia duelled the whole way round Augusta until Garcia finally put his flag in the turf. Phil Mickelson walks to the 12th green during the third round of the Masters golf tournament Saturday, April 8, 2017, in Augusta, Ga. He sank his ball in his third stroke, giving him his first-ever major – a Masters title.
“I’m a major champion, but I’m looking for more”, Rose said. “I felt I could go out there and freewheel it, and I hit two great shots to finish it”. He was the only man to shoot four under-par rounds. South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters victor, was four-under in fourth with six holes to play.
Both Rose and Garcia hit incredible approach shots on No. 18 to finish their round, setting up good birdie opportunities.
He said the results weren’t shocking, “just a little freaky”.
He carried that attitude all the way to the 18th and when he missed a 5-footer that would’ve given him a win in regulation, he simply redoubled his effort. But his putt never had a chance and veered right from the hole.
A prodigy in Spain, Garcia was a scratch golfer at 13.
– Jordan Spieth’s mastery of Augusta National – he finished second, first and second in his three previous appearances – never materialized this time around.
As they entered the back nine Garcia started to crack with back-to-back bogeys, and fans covering their eyes as they feared he would let another major slip through his fingers. If not for Garcia getting out of treacherous territory, Rose might have been competing against someone else down the stretch.
“It’s good for Sergio”, Rose said.
As former victor Charl Schwartzel (-6) made a push along with debutant Thomas Pieters (-5) Matt Kuchar (-6) stole the show and got the crowd going with a sensational hole-in-one on the 16.
Sure, he was one of those down-on-his-luck types in major championships that typically get the patrons going late in the weekend. I think that I’m working on trying to accept things which can happen here and can happen anywhere.
Perhaps the most daunting name at Augusta National was Spieth, who began this Masters with a quadruple-bogey 9 on the 15th hole of the opening round and was 10 shots out of the lead when he trudged off the course on Thursday. But it also beat back all the labels that had threatened to follow Garcia to the grave – that his unfulfilled potential had made him a disappointment, that he had lost the verve and joy that once had defined him, that in the largest moments, he came up small. Mark O’Meara previously held the record, winning in 1998 on his 15th try.
The Spaniard, who had not won a major in 73 attempts, picked up a birdie at the first extra hole following a sensational dual with his good friend and Ryder Cup team-mate.
Seventy-three goes in to his quest, it was no surprise to see Garcia needing a further two in a single round.
But he missed to the right of the cup, then tapped in to force the playoff. Garcia fired another shot from the fairway into the green, and he could two-putt to win. He played here 28 times – the first 40 years ago, in 1977, when he was 20. And with his driver, Garcia obliterates “Second Again?”
The four leaders – Charley Hoffman, Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler and Thomas Peters – will tee off in about four hours on what looks like a great day for golf.
You couldn’t quite tell if they were pulling for England’s Justin Rose, who has a U.S. Open title on his resume, or the Spaniard who once was easy to pull against.
Garcia birdied the 14th to get within one. One of the world’s best players, he’ll be back.
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“It’s been my dream since I was very, very little”.
