Congratulations to Sergio Garcia on his first Masters victory and first major! I thought Sergio played very composed, played very well, and he played like he wasn’t going to be denied—even after he made a couple mistakes. He fought his way back into it. Sergio was just very composed all day; he played very nicely; and played well within himself. Sergio should be very proud of himself. He played like the champion that he is.

It was a great fight between two wonderful golfers coming down the end. Sergio and Justin played great golf. It was exciting to watch. It was a fun tournament for all, including me. I know the people who watched it, enjoyed it, because it was really, really good golf.

I know that two of Sergio’s idols have been Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, and I am certain it is very meaningful to Sergio to join them as Masters champions. It was very special that Sergio could win on what would have been Seve’s 60th birthday. That was very appropriate and very nice for Sergio.
After what happened at the start of the back nine for Sergio, I thought, “Oh no, here it goes again. Is Sergio going to be able to finish?” Then he made a great 5 at 13; great second shot at 14; eagle at 15 with an unbelievable shot; had a tough putt he missed at 16; nice par at 17; and a really good shot at 18 and he just misread the putt. That was pretty sensational for Sergio to get himself back in a position to be in a playoff. And then to play the two shots he did on the playoff hole, they were struck perfectly. Then he made a great putt. Justin played beautifully; Sergio just finished it better than he did.

If looking for a defining moment, I don’t think anything would have happened without that par save at 13. Sergio had bogeyed 10 and 11, made a par at 12, looked like he was going to have a disaster at 13, and then gets out of it with par. Without that, I think it would have been very difficult to come back—even with the birdie at 14 and eagle at 15. He would have put himself probably too far behind. I think the key was the par at 13. It gave him the energy to do what he did at 14 and 15.

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