Sergio García Wins the 2017 Masters at Augusta

At the Masters at Augusta, the most famous golf tournament, Spaniard Sergio García took up the baton from José María Olazábal (champion in 1994 and 1999), following in the footsteps of Severiano Ballesteros (champion in 1980 and 1983). And, precisely, on the day the best golfer in Spanish history would have turned 60.

Sergio García could not have chosen a better date to win his first major tournament and don the green jacket. It is true that the Spaniard, who has been causing trouble on the circuit since he was 19, would have preferred to do so much earlier, for example at the 2007 British Open, which he lost in a playoff to Harrington, at the 2008 PGA, or at the British again in 2014, when the great McIlroy left him with no chance.

The “major” had eluded Sergio García, to the point that some spoke of a kind of curse hanging over the Spanish player. A word that echoed once more during the final round, when Sergio García, leader of the tournament since Friday, began to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders and started to falter, allowing Englishman Justin Rose, the Olympic champion, to dream of a comeback.

The man from Borriol had it in his hands, but missed the last putt on the final hole, so the 2017 Masters at Augusta would be decided in a playoff. Luck in these situations had never smiled on García, but on this occasion García handled the pressure better than Rose, runner-up in the 2015 edition, and did not waste the concession the Englishman born in South Africa gave him: he gave him two chances, and García sank the first to win.

Thus, the winner of the Masters at Augusta last year, Englishman Danny Willett, placed the iconic green jacket on Sergio García. At 37, in full sporting and personal maturity (with a wedding on the horizon), Sergio García joins an exclusive club and signs his name to one of the great pages in Spanish golf, just as his idols did before him: Chema Olazábal and Seve Ballesteros.