Masters Week
With newborn, Garcia returns to defend title
AUGUSTA, Ga. – 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.
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 Garcia’s 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, 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 in the playoff capped a week of outstanding ball-striking and clutch putting, composure and patience for Garcia, who often searched for excuses rather than solutions.
“I didn’t let things bother me too much. Consciously I was telling myself to not let things bother me,” Garcia said. “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.
And Luke Donald’s three young daughters were deliriously jumping up and down in Florida.
“They love Sergio,” Donald said.
“He’s Uncle Sergio.”
On Augusta National’s grounds, Glenn Murray, who has been on the bag for 28 of Garcia’s 33 professional 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. His patience was always there. The desire to play well, to win, to get better, never changed.
“And there is not one golfer out here who has played with him who would deny him a major. Amongst his peers that’s one of the best things to know.”
After the weight of being the best player never to have won a major had been lifted, 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.
It made an appearance at the couple’s wedding. Garcia was wearing it on the soccer pitch when he took the ceremonial kickoff before the El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona as 90,000 roared.
“When we stepped out of the car at the stadium and the people saw the green jacket, they started chanting his name and they started running up to him. I remember I told Sergio that this is what Beyoncé and Jay-Z must feel like,” Angela Garcia said.
Sergio Garcia smiled when asked about that day. And he smiled when asked how often he thinks back to his special week in Augusta.
“Obviously, it was one of the most amazing weeks of our lives,” Garcia said. “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.’ You need to focus on the present.”
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 motivational text messages from his wife’s father, Marty, a former All-American quarterback who ran the wishbone for the Texas Longhorns. Garcia also started sitting for long chats with Marty and his wife’s grandfather, Robert, at the Akins ranch in Texas.
Garcia 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.”
“You realize just how big the Masters is all over the world, and before this I thought it was massive. ... I had no idea how much the green jacket meant to so many people.” Sergio Garcia