Sergio Garcia Ends Years Of Frustration And Wins The Masters On First Playoff Hole

Sergio Garcia won the Masters on the first extra hole of a playoff with Justin Rose.  It was a fitting win for a talented player who could never quite get over the hump in the majors. And, in a remarkable twist of fate, it happened on what would have been Seve Ballesteros' 60th birthday. Garcia deserved this win, as he had lots of birdie opportunities and made his share even with his normal putting woes. He lost his swing in the middle of the round but rallied with wonderful ball-striking in the final six holes.

As for Rose, he will look back on his inability to make birdie on the par 5 13th, when he was just off the green in two and a birdie would have given him a three shot lead. But make no mistake, Sergio Garcia deserved to win this title and end years of frustration for the talented Spaniard. It was a popular win as even the normally reserved Masters patrons broke into a chant of "Serg-i-o".

From the start, it was really a two-man tournament between Rose and Garcia as none of chasers were able to mount any move whatsoever. Jordan Speith bogeyed the first and quickly went backward fast. Ricky Fowler could not hit enough greens in regulation and was scrambling the whole round. Matt Kuchar and Thomas Pieters were the only players to get within two shots of the lead after the early holes of the round.

Garcia started off on fire, with birdies on  the first and the third while missing another makeable birdie putt on the second. Meanwhile, Rose was scrambling to save par early in the round and bogeyed the 5th, leaving Sergio with a three shot lead. However, that didn't last long as Rose reeled off three straight birdies on 7, 8, and 9.

That charge by Rose seemed to rattle Garcia, who started to lose shots both left and right and bogeyed 10 and 11 because of that. It was a five shot swing in five holes and left Rose with a two shot lead heading to the 13th. Sergio's drive on the 13th ended up in the bushes on the left and he was forced to take an unplayable lie. Rose put his tee shot in good position and had an iron to the green. Sergio was force to lay up and needed to get up and down from the fairway simply to make par. When Rose put his second just over the green, it looked like he might wrap up the tournament then and there. But Sergio hit a great wedge and sank his putt to make par, while Rose missed his short birdie effort to keep the lead at two.

That miraculous par from Sergio seemed to energize him and he started to hit his ball as crisply as he did early in the round. He made birdie on 14 to get within one and then eagled 15 after a spectacular second shot that hit the pin to briefly take a one shot lead until Rose birdied on top of him.

So Rose and Garcia went to 16 tied at 9 under. They both hit beautiful tee shots into the par three 16th and each had birdie putts. Rose dibbled his in while Garcia's putter let him down once again as he let the putt drift away to the right. Rose took the one shot lead into the 17th but Rose put his drive in the first cut, while Sergio bombed his down the fairway. Rose's approach found the greenside bunker while Sergio once again put it in close with a makeable uphill birdie putt. Rose hit a god bunker shot leaving himself an uphill putt for par. Garcia came up short again on his birdie attempt as again his putter let him down. But Rose was not able to convert his 5-footer for par.

The pair teed off on 18 once again tied at 9 under and they both hit perfect drives. Rose's approach looked right but kicked off the hill toward the how, leaving him about a ten or 12 foot putt. Sergio hit a laser inside of Rose, leaving him only about six feet for his birdie. Rose burned the right side of the cup so it was left to Sergio to drain his six footer and win his first major. But, as throughout his career, his putter let him down and he didn't even hit the hole, missing it to the right.

So it was onto the playoff and back to the 18th tee. Rose's drive hit the trees on the right and, although it kicked back out toward the fairway, he still was blocked by the trees. Sergio hit another great drive and when Rose could only punch out a few yards beyond Garcia's drive, it looked like Sergio was in great position to win his first major. That was helped when he again hit a wonderful approach to within about eight feet. Rose hit a good iron into and left himself a chance to make par with about a 20 footer. But he missed it to the left this time, leaving Garcia to simply two-putt to win. With the pressure off, Garcia drained his putt and won the Masters.