It had been four years since Sergio Garcia obtained his last victory on the United States Tour, the PGA Tour. The Spaniard from Castellon has achieved, by winning the Bryon Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas, his ninth victory in North America, thus equaling the number of victories of the Spaniard who had the most on the PGA Tour, Severiano Ballesteros. Sergio, 36 years old, had to work hard and overcome in the playoff a American Brook Koepka. Thanks to his performance, the player from Borriol has moved up three places in the world ranking, where he now occupies the twelfth position.
“It’s incredible to be on a par with Seve; it means so much!” said Garcia, who dedicated the win to his countryman, who passed away in 2011.
“I won a little ‘Seve-like’ today,” Garcia noted. “I was struggling. I was playing hard, with good shots and I made some really good putts.”
The victory places him among the strong candidates to be part of the European team for this year’s Ryder Cup.
“I’ve played really well this week, and I know I can play better,” he said. “This is going to go really well for me for Ryder qualifying, and it means a lot to me.”
Koepka lifted pressure on the back nine holes that saw him from a three-stroke lead into a second round with Garcia, where his game quickly unraveled.
The Spaniard took the lead in the playoff when he made the par four, 429-yard 18th hole. Moments later, Koepka put his ball in the lake, dropping to -1. His final collapse came when his third shot fell short of the green.
Garcia and Koepka advanced to the playoff after a nervous finish, with the Spaniard carding a two under par (68) to finish at 15 under par and a cumulative 265. Koepka joined the Spaniard with another 15 under par after and a card of 71.
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