Returning to Australia after seven years, Sergio García will be one of the guests of honour at the Greg Norman Medal gala dinner tonight. In addition to his famous U.S. Masters green jacket making its debut on the green carpet, García will also be appearing this week in the Australian PGA Championship for the first time.

He last played a tournament in Australia in 2010, the Australian Masters where he finished just inside the top-30. On this occasion he will be teeing up at the RACV Royal Pines Resort, on Queensland’s Gold Coast, from 30 November to 3 December in another competitive field that includes 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott and world number 13 Marc Leishman.

“I'm obviously also very excited to be back in Australia, a part of Australia that I've never been to, so it's great fun," Garcia said. “What we've seen, it's obviously beautiful. But I think the whole Australia is beautiful, one of my favourite countries. So we're extremely happy to be back here and going to enjoy the week, for sure. Unfortunately, we haven't been here for a while, so it's nice to be back. I've always liked the courses that we play. I'm excited to see the course tomorrow. So, like I said earlier, excited for the week and it will be a great one.”



Looking back on his Masters triumph last April, and the expectations of winning a first major, García said, “Fortunately or unfortunately for me, that expectation and that kind of outside pressure has always been there. So the way I look at it is, I'm extremely honoured to call myself the Masters champion and to try to help the game of golf not only in Spain but all over the world. I think at the end of the day what matters is what I expect from myself.  



“I know what I want to do and if someone comes to me and says, next year you should win six times and one or two majors, I know what I want to do and I know where my expectations are and I know what I need to improve on.”



He said he’s by no means losing his competitive edge and is confident as to what other lofty heights he can reach on the international stage. “I know that my game is still in great shape. And I'm still fairly young, so I can still achieve many, many things. But it's fun to be able to have those possibilities and kind of put some nice expectations for yourself.”



The Australian PGA Championship is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.