Sergio Garcia wins Masters to end…

AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 9 (Reuters) – Spain’s Sergio Garcia ended nearly two decades of major disappointment when he beat England’s Justin Rose in a playoff to win the U.S. Masters on Sunday, donning the Green Jacket on the 60th birthday of his hero, the late Seve Ballesteros. After 73 majors, four heartbreaking runner-up finishes and years of self doubt, Garcia finally delivered the long awaited title when his 10-foot birdie putt at the first extra hole dropped into the cup at the par-four 18th, triggering a massive cheer from a gallery that had been on the edge of their seats. Deadlocked after nine holes, the two friends and rivals produced an enthralling back nine showdown worthy of any Masters champion….
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2017 MASTERS: Playoff duel leaves both…

AUGUSTA — Memorable duels between playing partners in the closing round of a major championship don’t happen very often. After what happened in the 81st Masters, there have now been two in the past nine months. In July at the British Open at Royal Troon, Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson went toe-to-toe, with Stenson winning with an 8-under 63 while Mickelson had 65. Stenson ended up shooting 20-under-par, the lowest 72-hole score in a major championship. On Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose traded haymakers all day, especially over the final five holes of regulation, in one of the classic Masters finishes. They went to sudden death where Garcia birdied the first hole – No….
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A green jacket and a white…

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Sergio Garcia pulled off one of the great upsets of the modern era Sunday at the Masters. Yes, few folks outside Garcia’s inner circle believed he could actually win a major championship, much less a green jacket, with such a formidable history of painful losses stacked against him, but the nature of this upset was even more stunning than that. Over four hours at Augusta National, Garcia won the hearts and minds of American golf fans. That’s your monumental upset. That might have been more impossible for him to win than a major. Garcia, 37, transformed before our very eyes Sunday, making the improbable journey from villain to hero with every step in his final-round odyssey. The…
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Garcia ends majors drought at Augusta…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Sergio Garcia tugged the lapel of his green jacket with both hands, proud of his prize and how he earned it.His hopes were fading Sunday in the Masters — two shots behind with six holes to play — when his tee shot bounced off a tree and into an azalea bush, the kind of bad luck he had come to expect in the majors. Instead of pouting, he figured out how to make par.Five feet away from winning, his birdie putt peeled off to the right. Usually resigned to fail, Garcia proved to be more resilient than ever. He was a new man with a new title: Masters champion.Major champion.“It’s been an amazing week,” Garcia said, “and…
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Golf — Four-Ball — With Masters…

The 2017 Masters is in the books, and Sergio Garcia is a major champion for the first time.Now that Garcia has broken through, will more majors follow? And who replaces him on top of the list of best golfers without a major championship?Our expanded panel answers these questions and more in this week’s edition of Monday Four-Ball.Will this be the only major that Sergio Garcia wins, or do you see more in his future?ESPN.com senior golf analyst Michael Collins: There will be no “floodgates” of majors for Sergio Garcia, but I do believe he can win one more. I think if conditions are right he could win an Open Championship or a PGA Championship now that the monkey is off…
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Garcia wants to share champions’ locker…

Sergio Garcia would like to share a spot in the champions’ locker room with Jose Maria Olazabal after ending his long wait for a major title with victory at the Masters.Garcia has developed an unwanted reputation as golf’s nearly man, but he shed that moniker at Augusta with a play-off triumph over Justin Rose.The win was made more emotional by the fact it fell on what would have been the 60th birthday of Garcia’s hero and compatriot Seve Ballesteros.Another of Garcia’s idols, Olazabal – a two-time winner at Augusta – left a note for Garcia ahead of Thursday’s opening round, and the new Masters champion is keen to take him up on an offer.”Jose Maria’s [note] was very special because he’s my idol. He’s one; him…
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A long, tearful road to a…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Eighteen years and 71 majors later, more tears for Sergio Garcia. This time, they were accompanied by a smile. Sunday at the Masters was a most joyous occasion, far different from when Garcia teed it up in his first major as a pro in the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie. He was 19 and already heralded as a star and the most likely rival for Tiger Woods. Garcia was low amateur at the Masters that year. He shot 62 at the Byron Nelson Classic and tied for third in his pro debut on the PGA Tour. He won the Irish Open, and the next week he was runner-up to Colin Montgomerie at the Scottish Open. And then…
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Golf — Masters 2017 — Sergio…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — You might think golf fans show up at a tournament waiting for the 20-car pileup, waiting to feel better about their own swings, maybe their own lives, when some tormented soul relives Greg Norman’s worst nightmare on the back nine. But the Masters has always been about the career-making recovery, not the heartbreaking crash, which is why Sergio Garcia felt like he was playing his home course near the east coast of Spain.The Augusta National crowd was trying to will him home Sunday to end his biblical, 0-for-73 drought in the majors, as much as the 2004 crowd successfully tried to will home Phil Mickelson to end his 0-for-46. This was clear on the first and only…
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Sergio Garcia gets his major on…

Sergio Garcia gets his major on an unforgettable Sunday at the Masters – SBNation.com clockmore-arrow It did not look like Sergio Garcia would ever win a major, and certainly not the Masters. But there he was at Augusta National, closing the final five holes with nothing but perfect swings.
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Sports Night: Garcia finally wins major

Masters: Garcia beats Rose in playoff to win first major After nearly two decades of heartache in the tournaments that define careers, Sergio Garcia finally shows the mettle to win a major. He overcomes a two-shot deficit against Justin Rose on Sunday and wins the Masters title on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.Kings: Harden’s triple-double, Rockets’ offense prove too much Skal Labissiere scores 25 points for the Kings, who set a season high in scoring – and also in points allowed in Sunday’s 135-128 loss. James Harden leads Houston with 35 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds.Today’s video: Rockets’ Harden just wants to win Sign up for Kings Daily newsletter The best way to follow news and analysis…
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