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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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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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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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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6 near-misses that made Sergio Garcia’s…

Sergio Garcia, golf’s resident nearly-man, is a nearly man no more. He’s a major winner, no matter what. He came into the final round with a three-shot lead, which through no fault of his own, had evaporated by the 10th hole due to a string of birdies from Justin Rose. That’s when things started to go off the rails: Nervy bogeys on 10 and 11, followed by a miracle par save on 13. But to Garcia’s massive credit, he fought back in thrilling fashion. A stunning eagle at 15 forced a birdie from rose to tie the lead. Rose pulled ahead once again on 16, but after a bogey on 17, the two found themselves in a playoff — one…
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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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Who is Angela Akins, Sergio Garcia’s…

AUGUSTA, Ga. As Sergio Garcia took his first major title by winning the Masters, he was cheered on by fiancee Angela Akins. Judging from interviews given by Akins and information in the public record, the 31-year-old has lived an interesting life that also involved a lot of golf.  >> Stars align for Garcia Masters win Angela Akins is a reporter for the Golf Channel.  Akins is from Marble Falls, Texas.  Definitely yes. Akins transferred from Texas Christian University to the University of Texas, where she played for the UT women’s golf team.  “[My teammates and I] created some lasting memories when we were at Texas,” she said to TexasSports.com. “We worked very hard every day practicing and staying in shape, but we were…
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At last, Sergio Garcia’s major breakthrough

Every Sunday night, GOLF.com conducts an e-mail roundtable with writers from Sports Illustrated and GOLF Magazine. Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com.1. In what amounted to a duel that had all the elements of match play, Sergio Garcia won the 81st Masters by outlasting Justin Rose with a birdie on the first hole of sudden death. Rose led by two with five to play, but Garcia chased him down and it was a wild ride from there. What’s your biggest takeaway? And did Garcia win it? Or dare we suggest that Rose lost it?Shane Bacon, golf analyst, Fox Sports (@shanebacon): I think the biggest takeaway…
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Sergio Garcia beats Justin Rose in…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — In Sergio Garcia’s folded knees and collapsing legs and in his bend at the waist that could not be controlled was everything from the past two decades, self-doubt and self-loathing and all the pain both can bring. He has been — pick a phrase because over the years we have used them all — star-crossed and whiny, unlucky and unsure, talented and tortured. Each applies. But Sunday night, so much of his life changed. Think that’s an overstatement? Fine. He would argue he was going to be happy either way. But don’t forget Augusta National once owned him to the point of dejection. Don’t forget major championships once caused him such frustration that he publicly declared he…
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