SERGIO SURGE FOR GLORY
Sublime Garcia has Seve tribute in his sights DEREK LAWRENSON
IT sounds almost too perfect. Sergio Garcia ending all his years of agony at the majors by winning the 81st Masters tomorrow on what would have been Severiano Ballesteros’s 60th birthday.
Sergio becoming the first Spaniard to win a major this century at the place where he had a mental meltdown in 2012.
‘I don’t think I will ever win a major,’ he said back then, after yet another crushing disappointment. ‘I don’t have what you need and I’ve come to the conclusion I should play for second or third place. Obviously this is not my favourite course but you try to enjoy it as much as you can.’
He’s certainly enjoyed it so far, but then he’s a different man these days since meeting his future wife, Angela Akins.
Now 37, Garcia followed up being the only man on day one not to have a bogey with a 69 for a fourunder-par total of 140 to be part of a four-way logjam at the top.
Alongside him are first-round leader Charley Hoffman, who came back down to earth with a 75, Belgian rookie Thomas Pieters and American Rickie Fowler. This was Fowler’s 100th career round in majors and the first time he has led.
The quartet have a two-shot advantage over unsung American Bill McGirt, playing in his first Masters at the age of 37 and revelling in the experience.
One shot further off the lead are two men at opposite ends of their careers: 57-year-old Fred Couples, on the 25th anniversary of his Masters victory, and the amazing Spanish rookie Jon Rahm, who will try to emulate Seve’s achievement and win a major at the age of 22.
Rory McIlroy had an awful piece of luck at the last, where his iron approach struck the flagstick and bounced 30 yards away to turn a tap-in birdie into a bogey. He is five behind but, with the weather turning Rory-perfect over the weekend with little wind and blue skies, the Northern Irishman is still handily placed.
The English challenge petered away disappointingly, led by Danny Willett, who became the first defending champion since Mike Weir in 2004 to miss the cut. The exception was Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose, who shot a 72 to be three adrift.
Garcia is playing in his 19th Masters and admitted it had been a long journey before he felt comfortable at Augusta.
‘For me, this is a course where I’ve had to make my peace and this the best I have ever played over the first 36 holes,’ he said.
Only at Amen Corner did he threaten to unravel. A spectacular bunker shot at the 12th lipped out wickedly and then he bogeyed the par-five 13th from no distance. Perhaps that double whammy would have unhinged him in the past but here he birdied the 15th and the 17th to catch Hoffman.
Asked what it would be like to have a chance to win on Seve’s birthday, he said: ‘Hopefully I will have that problem but I can’t get ahead of myself. I wouldn’t want to think about it. It would be too emotional.’
Let’s hope the 3ft putt at the last for birdie that didn’t touch the hole wasn’t evidence of the demons returning. His scoring average for the third round — look away now, Garcia fans — is a dreadful 75.
It must have helped playing two rounds with Lee Westwood, who certainly knows how he feels trying to close the deal in majors. Westwood holds the record for majors played without a win at 75, with Garcia on 73. Garcia has had a record 12 top-five finishes with Westwood second on 11.
For the vast majority of their 36 holes, they seemed to be drawing comfort from one another as they walked these perilous fairways stride for stride. But a poor finish for Westwood, with four bogeys in his last five holes, meant a 77 and he is now seven behind.
After winning the Dubai Desert Classic in February, Garcia talked about the calming influence of Akins.
‘I’m not going to lie to you, when things are going well off the golf course it’s so much easier to feel comfortable on it,’ he told
Sportsmail. ‘I’m excited about a lot of things coming up. I’m excited that I’m getting married in July and I’m excited about the Masters.’
Now he has the chance to emulate the achievement of Willett, who followed up a win in Dubai last year by claiming the green jacket. To think, if Willett had managed two pars at the first over the first two days, he’d be just five shots off the lead rather than kicking his heels waiting for tomorrow’s closing ceremony.
As for Hoffman, what must it have been like for him having to go out yesterday morning after opening with a 65 and perhaps the finest first round in Masters history. He must have felt like savouring it for a few days.
The 40-year-old started well at one under for the first five holes but his first mistake at the sixth heralded a run of five bogeys in six holes, before he steadied the ship, playing the last six in one under.
‘I didn’t play that badly, and I’ve got to be delighted with my position at the halfway stage,’ he said. ‘All you ask for going into the
weekend is to give yourself a chance of winning the green jacket.’
McGirt got into this event by winning Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament last year and got up early to watch the great man and Gary Player at the opening ceremony on Thursday.
Nicklaus spotted him as he made his way back into the clubhouse. ‘If you can win my tournament, you can win this event,’ Nicklaus told him.
McGirt has carried that ego boost with him through the first 36 holes.
‘It’s going to be pretty cool playing late in the third round in your first appearance at the Masters,’ he said.
Rahm echoed those thoughts and he will give Spain a second chance to mark such a special Sunday in the most fitting manner imaginable.
The great sadness, of course, is that Seve won’t be around to watch it, for how proud he would have been.