USA TODAY International Edition
Garcia’s life-changing year
Spaniard won 1st major, prepared for fatherhood
As Sergio Garcia walked toward the first green at Royal Birkdale during a practice round ahead of last year’s British Open, he was joined in the fairway by his favorite playing partner, his wife, Angela.
“I had just hit my second shot, and she showed up and we’re walking down the fairway and she’s giving me a hug and a kiss and there was just something different,” Garcia said. “She was smiling and glowing and was so happy.
“I said, ‘What is going on?’ ”
The two stopped in the middle of the fairway, Angela still beaming and Garcia still wondering, when she moved in to whisper in his ear.
“We’re pregnant,” she said. Garcia was stunned.
“I was really happy, but I was holding back because we were in the middle of the fairway and I didn’t want to scream with joy and jump up and down and have the fans wonder what was going on. But we started hugging each other and jumping up and down a little bit,” Garcia said. “I’ve always dreamed of being a father. Then she told me we are pregnant. It was amazing.”
Eight months later, another lifechanging moment greeted the two. Azalea Adele Garcia came into the world on March 14 in Austin.
“It’s something that we both wanted,” Garcia said. “It is exciting. And it’s scary, because it’s a new life you are bringing into the world and you have the responsibilities and the worries. But we’re looking forward to it.”
While her dad once had a tormented relationship with Augusta National and the Masters, the little girl was named for the beautiful flowers that bloom at the famous golf club.
And Azalea is the name of the 13th hole, home to two pivotal moments in his first major championship triumph.
In delivering his own transformative moment in last year’s Masters and ending a 0-for-73 stretch of futility in majors, a span full of many close calls and plenty of sorrow, the 38-year-old Spaniard was on the receiving end of good fortune on the par-5 13th.
In Saturday’s third round, his second shot was destined to sink into Rae’s Creek, but somehow the ball stayed up on a bank, from where the man who often blamed the golf gods for his misfortune got up-and-down for a birdie instead of making a likely bogey.
And in Sunday’s round, Garcia, trailing by two with six to play, hooked his tee shot into a bush left of Rae’s Creek but managed to save par and not lose any ground after taking a penalty drop.
From there, Garcia made birdie on the 14th and a spectacular eagle on the 15th and beat Justin Rose on the first playoff hole to get his first major win.
His last stroke from 12 feet capped a week of outstanding ball-striking and clutch putting, composure and patience for Garcia, the man who once was petulant and pouty far too many times inside the ropes and often searched for excuses rather than solutions.
Joyful reaction
Hand in hand, Garcia and his wife walked off the 18th green and up toward Butler Cabin to slip on one baby of a jacket, a green one, as thunderous roars of “SER-GEE-O, SER-GEE-O, SERGEE-O” echoed through the pines.
“The whole week, the whole feeling about it, everything that we felt, it was just a remarkable week,” Garcia said. “I didn’t let things bother me too much. Consciously I was telling myself to not let things bother me. That week I definitely felt different. I felt sharper, I felt more comfortable, more confident. And all those things kept adding up.”
The victory resonated across the world. Text messages were sent from Jack Nicklaus, Rickie Fowler, Andy Garcia and Rafael Nadal, to name a few of the 500 Garcia received. Rory McIlroy cried with joy in his rental home for his good friend’s triumph.
On Augusta National’s grounds, Glenn Murray, who has been on the bag for 28 of Garcia’s 33 pro victories, was elated. “When you’ve been around as long as I have, and been a part of all the heartache, you really can’t explain how happy you are for him,” Murray said. “The pressure builds up. You can see how he reacted when he won, how much it meant to him. His patience was always there. The desire to play well, to win, to get better, never changed . ... It was a big relief. It was amazing.”
So, too, was the response to the green jacket.
Sergio and Angela Garcia celebrated across the globe and were stunned by the unrestrained thrills of fans when they caught a glimpse of Garcia and the green jacket. For instance, at the couple’s wedding, where the green jacket made an extended appearance. In various locales in Europe, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Singapore. The jacket stood out in the Royal Box at center court during Wimbledon and has been to the top of the Empire State Building and to the Alps.
Garcia smiled when asked how often he thinks back to his special week in Augusta and all the times when people broke out in party mode when they saw the green jacket. “You realize just how big the Masters is all over the world, and before this I thought it was massive. Wherever we went it was just amazing. I had no idea how much the green jacket meant to so many people. It’s difficult not to look back, there are so many memories, especially Masters week. Obviously, it was one of the most amazing weeks of our lives.
“But at the same time, Angela’s grandpa used to say, ‘If you keep one eye on the past and one eye on the future, you’re going to be cockeyed on the present.’ So you need to focus on the present.
“My career didn’t end with the Masters.”
Words to live by
Ah, yes, the famous sayings from the Akins household. Angela knows all about them, and her future husband became aware of them shortly after the two began dating in late 2015.
Garcia started getting inspirational and motivational text messages from his wife’s father, Marty, a former AllAmerican quarterback who ran the wishbone for the Texas Longhorns. He also started sitting for long chats with Marty and his wife’s grandfather, Robert, at the Akins ranch in Texas. He quickly welcomed the Akins adages.
“What you think and what you believe is who you are.”
“Somebody else is practicing and they’re getting better than you today.” “Good luck comes with hard work.” “There are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what the hell happened.”
“I grew up hearing them, and they helped me to try to be the best at everything I did, whether in sports, homework, everything,” said Angela Garcia, 32, who was a pretty good athlete in her own right. She was an all-state shooting guard in high school, a member of the track and field team and a golfer who won four district championships and played for Texas Christian and Texas.
Garcia said the maxims are all about positivity. “You start to feel a little bit better. The more positive things you hear, it’s easier to think in a positive manner.’’