As expected, much of the media attention has been focused on Tiger Woods this year in the run-up to the first major of the year. Even the world’s most advantaged youngsters -Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy – have taken a back seat as the eternal question dominates the media: Can Tiger add to his 14 Grand Slam titles and once again threaten Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18?
Another of the other shining stars of the world top-10 who would also, under normal circumstances, attract the media spotlight is Sergio Garcia, but as the Augusta Masters looms he has been working almost silently under the radar. And that’s despite having enjoyed the best twelve months of his career, and possibly of his life, brightened now by the birth of his first child, in this case a baby girl named Azalea, in honor of the 13th hole at Augusta National, home of the Masters.
The Spaniard won his first major in April last year by donning the famous green jacket on what would have been the 60th birthday of two-time Masters champion Seve Ballesteros, married Golf Channel journalist Angela Akins in July, won another title at his “favorite course in the world,” Valderrama, and (as this magazine went to press) was expecting the birth of his first child.
Along the way, in addition to his win at the Andalucía Valderrama Masters in October (his fourteenth victory on the European Tour), which propelled him to fourth place in the final Race to Dubai standings and to being named European Tour Golfer of the Year, he won an Asian Tour tournament, the Singapore Open, in January of this year.
As he is about to return to the scene of his Masters triumph, it can be said that his season has been inconsistent: after his win at Valderrama and fourth at the season-ending World Championship in Dubai, he finished 19th, 24th and 32nd in his first three starts of the new European Tour season. Then, crossing the Atlantic after his competitive sojourn in Asia, he was 33rd at The Honda Classic, seventh at the WGC-Mexico Championship and fourth at the Valspar Championship (where Tigermania reached near ecstasy with the former world number one, finishing second, one stroke behind Paul Casey).
Garcia’s streak in recent months is reflected in the betting odds for the Masters: he has been hovering around 30/1 and is not among the ten favorites. The truth is that, until last year, the Castellon native tended to have a love-hate relationship with Augusta. So, if he’s going to follow up this year with a second camp, perhaps he’s more likely to be in one of the other three.
However, few would bet against Garcia not trying to retain his Masters title at Augusta -at least he will fight for it with all his might- now that the curse of being considered the greatest golfer not to win a major is no longer hanging over him and he is clearly much happier both professionally and emotionally. and is clearly much happier both professionally and emotionally.
That said, Garcia’s ambitions are likely to be fulfilled, even if three key achievements have eluded him during an otherwise stellar career: finishing number one on the European and U.S. Tours (his best results have been third in 1999 and 2008), and becoming number one in the world rankings (he was second in 2008).
After ending the heartbreak and winning his first major last year, Garcia, then 37, joked, “I don’t know if I’ll be the best player to ever win a major, but I can live with that…. I have a nice life. Major or no major, I’ve said it many, many times, I have an amazing life.”
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