Sergio Garcia

In his 74th major championship start, and on what would have been the 60th birthday of fellow countryman Seve Ballesteros, Spain's Garcia birdied the par-4 18th at Augusta National, the first hole of sudden death, to defeat 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and win the Masters for his first major title. He had collected 22 top-10 finishes in 73 previous major championship starts, four of which were runner-up showings. In his 19th appearance at Augusta National, he played his way into a tie for the 54-hole lead with Rose at six-under 210. The duo posted matching 69s in the final round, finishing at nine-under 279. En route to the 69 on Sunday to keep pace with Rose, Garcia made an eagle-3 at the 15th hole to get to nine-under. It was his first eagle in his last 452 holes at the Masters. With the win, Garcia became the first Spaniard to win the Masters since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999. With scores of 71-69-70-69, he joined Rose as the only two players in the field to play all four rounds with under-par scores. One record that Garcia owns is the longest time to win his first major; the previous record was held by Tom Kite, who won the 1992 U.S. Open in his 72nd major.
Garcia grew up playing at the Mediterraneo Club de Golf in Borriol, Spain, where his father, Victor, was a golf professional. Garcia's mother, Consuelo, ran the golf shop and said that the course served as Sergio's "big, green living room." He remembers that from age 3, he ran around the whole place, doing all kinds of kids' things and hitting every kind of shot he could imagine, getting a total feel for the game. He was club champion by the time he was 12. Known as "El Nino," Garcia was a scratch player at age 13. He made his European Tour debut at age 15 at the 1995 Turespana Open Mediterrania, where he made the cut. Played his first major championship, the 1996 British Open, at age 16. As a 17-year-old amateur, he captured his first professional tournament at a Spanish PGA event, the 1997 Catalonian Open, where he shot three consecutive rounds of 64.
He won the 1995 European Amateur at age 15, the youngest winner of that tournament, and in 1998 won The Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A. At the 1998 U.S. Amateur, he lost a semifinal match to Tom McKnight after defeating Matt Kuchar in the quarterfinals. In amateur tournaments in 1997 and '98, he played 21 events, winning 17 of them. Garcia was the low Amateur at the 1999 Masters.
Garcia turned professional after the 1999 Masters. He was a member of 1999, 2002, '04, '06, '08, '12, '14, '16, '18, and 2021 European Ryder Cup teams. In 2010, he took a two-month break from golf after missing the cut at the PGA Championship and served as a Ryder Cup vice-captain during a one-point victory by the European team over the U.S.
He returned to golf in 2011 and capped the year with two victories on the European Tour in his home country. He finished 17th on the Official World Golf Ranking after starting the year 78th.
2012 Notes: Garcia played 24 events worldwide and had nine top-10s, including wins at the Wyndham Championship and Iskandar Johor Open. He played in all four FedExCup playoff events, finishing the year 17th in the FedExCup standings. He was 8th in the Race to Dubai and was instrumental in the "Miracle at Medinah," claiming a crucial point against Jim Furyk in singles as the European team came from behind to win the Ryder Cup. It was his sixth Ryder Cup appearance.
2013 Notes: Garcia had been in contention early in several events, including a T-12th at the Qatar Masters and T-3rd at the WGC-Cadillac. He held the first-round co-lead with an opening 66 at the Masters but finished T-8th. He was tied for the lead at The Players Championship at the 71st hole but hit two shots into the water at No. 17 and one in the water at 18, finishing quadruple-bogey 7 and double-bogey 6. The miscues dropped him to T-8th. He finished T-45th at the U.S. Open, 14 shots behind winner Justin Rose. With rounds of 65-64-65 at the Deutsche Bank Championship, he held a one-stroke 36-hole lead and a two-stroke, 54-hole advantage. A final-round, two-over-par 73 led to a T-4th result, five strokes behind winner Henrik Stenson. He finished the year 22nd in the FedExCup standings and 26th on the money list. He also won the Thailand Golf Championship, an Asian Tour event in Chonburi, Thailand.
2014 Notes: Garcia won the Commercialbank Qatar Masters, then finished 3rd at the Shell Houston Open and The Players Championship. He withdrew after the first round at the BMW PGA Championship, citing a knee injury. At the time, he tweeted that he had edema on the top of his kneecap and some cartilage on his left side. A follow-up tweet on May 30th said, "Good news after the MRI and doctor's appointment. My knee is reacting well to the treatment, and it should be in good shape for the U.S. Open!" He was able to play at the U.S. Open, where he finished T-35th. With his knee growing stronger, Garcia finished T-2nd at the Travelers Championship, T-12th at the BMW International, T-2nd at the British Open (his fourth runner-up finish in a major championship), and 2nd at the WGC-Bridgestone. In the FedExCup playoffs, he finished T-57th at The Barclays, didn't play at the Deutsche Bank, then was T-4th at the BMW Championship and T-9th at the Tour Championship. He finished the year 13th in the FedExCup standings and 5th on the money list. He played on his seventh Ryder Cup team in Scotland and compiled a 2-1-1 record in four matches.
2015 Notes: Garcia started the year with a T-2nd at the CIMB Classic. He had a good shot at winning the Northern Trust but bogeyed three of his last six holes, including 17 and 18. He finished T-4th, one stroke out of the three-man playoff between James Hahn, Dustin Johnson, and Paul Casey. He was eliminated in a three-hole playoff at The Players Championship, won by Rickie Fowler. Garcia also had a T-6th result at the British Open and 6th at the Omega European Masters. He finished the PGA Tour year ranked 53rd in the FedExCup standings and 31st on the money list. He was 31st in the Race to Dubai. Ended the year with a win at the Ho Tram Open and T-4th at the Thailand Golf Championship, both on the Asian Tour.
2016 Notes: Finished T-7th at the Qatar Masters and 2nd at the Honda Classic, a stroke behind Adam Scott. At the Spanish Open, he finished with a 67 for 3rd place, two strokes behind winner Andrew Johnston. A month later, he won the AT&T Byron Nelson for a second time, defeating Brooks Koepka in a playoff. At the U.S. Open, he finished T-5th and was also T-5th at the BMW International and British Open. After missing the cut at the PGA Championship, Garcia represented Spain at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where he finished T-8th in the 60-player field. Ended the PGA Tour year 32nd in the FedExCup standings and 25th on the money list. Making his eighth start at the Ryder Cup, went 1-2-2 in his five matches in the European team's 17-11 loss to the United States at Hazeltine. Halved his singles match with Phil Mickelson, the twosome combining for 19 birdies and 14-under-par 58. On the European Tour, was T-9th at the WGC-HSBC Champions, and after his T-19th result at the DP World Tour Championship, he finished 14th in the Race to Dubai.
2017 Notes: Finished T-11th at the Singapore Open and followed up with a wire-to-wire win at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, giving him professional titles in 15 different countries. His Masters win was his 10th on the PGA Tour and 13th on the European Tour. Finished T-2nd at the BMW International, one stroke behind winner Andres Romero. On July 29th, he married Angela Akins in Austin, Texas, with Kenny G performing at the party after the wedding. Garcia played in three of the four FedExCup playoff events, ending his PGA Tour year with a T-10th at the Tour Championship. Finished 21st in the final FedExCup standings. Won his own tournament, the Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation, by a stroke over Joost Luiten. Ended his year T-4th at the DP World Tour Championship. He finished 4th in the Race to Dubai and earned euro3,457,462. The Spaniard won the European Tour Golfer of the Year award for 2017.
2018 Notes: Played 16 European Tour events, making 16 cuts with seven top-10 results. Was 18th in the Race to Dubai. Played 15 PGA Tour events and made seven cuts with three top-10 finishes. Was 128th in the FedExCup standings, his lowest finish. Started the year with a victory at the SMBC Singapore Open on the Asian Tour. Finished T-7th at the WGC-Mexico Championship and 4th at the Valspar Championship. A week later, his wife Angela gave birth to a girl who they named Azalea Adele. Played at the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship the following week, losing in the round of 16 to Kyle Stanley 3 & 1. Finished T-8th at the French Open. Was a captain's pick in making his ninth Ryder Cup team. He scored three points with a 3-1-0 record and won his singles match against Rickie Fowler, 2 & 1. Finished the year with a T-7th at the Portugal Masters and then won the Andalucia Valderrama Masters. Finished 2nd at the Nedbank Challenge and T-9th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2019 Notes: Played in 15 PGA Tour events, making 11 cuts with five top-10 finishes. Also played in 17 European Tour events, making 14 cuts with eight top-10 finishes. Started his year with a T-6th result at the Honma Hong Kong Open. In defense of his SMBC Singapore Open title, he finished T-7th and then T-3rd at the Dubai Desert Classic. Was T-6th at the WGC-Mexico Championship, T-9th at the Honda Classic, and lost to Matt Kuchar in the quarterfinals of the WGC-Dell Match Play. He missed the cut at the Masters, his fifth consecutive missed cut at a major. At the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, he and partner Tommy Fleetwood finished 2nd, three strokes behind winners Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer. Placed T-4th at the Wells Fargo Championship and 7th at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters. He played in one FedExCup playoffs event, missing the cut at the Northern Trust, and finished 72nd in the FedExCup standings. Won the KLM Open, defeating Nicolai Hojgaard by a shot, then was T-7th at the Spanish Open. In his last start of the year on the European Tour, finished T-6th at the DP World Tour Championship. He ranked 21st in the Race to Dubai.
2020 Notes: Played in 12 PGA Tour events, making 10 cuts with one top-10 finish. Was 135th in the FedExCup standings, not making it into the playoffs for the second time in the last three years. Played in seven European Tour events making five cuts with two top-ten finishes. Was 83rd in the Race to Dubai. Finished T-8th at the Abu Dhabi Championship, then T-6th at the Saudi International. Was T-5th at the RBC Heritage, three strokes behind winner Webb Simpson.
2021 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with four top-10 finishes. Was 14th in the FedExCup standings, his best finish in the Playoffs since finishing 13th in 2014. Played in 11 European Tour events, making nine cuts with two top-ten finishes. After missing the cut at Safeway and the U.S. Open, he birdied the 72nd hole to win the Sanderson Farms Championship by a shot over Peter Malnati. It was his first PGA Tour win since the 2017 Masters, and, at the time, became the 78th player to win in three different decades on the PGA Tour.
In November was supposed to play in the Masters, but after missing the cut at the Vivint Houston Open, he felt bad on Saturday night, on Sunday had a COVID-19 test and was positive. So after 21 years and playing in 84 straight majors, his streak came to an end. The streak was the third-longest in the majors, Jack Nicklaus holds the all-time record of 146 consecutive majors. The second-best is 87 by Tom Watson. Was T-6th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Opened the Players Championship with a 65 to lead by two shots, went on to shoot 72-71-72 to finish T-9th. By making the cut, he extended his streak of consecutive cuts made at the Players to 17, the longest in tournament history. At the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play got through the group play in a very unusual way. In the playoff with Lee Westwood, Garcia holed his tee shot for a hole-in-one and a dramatic win. In the round of 16, he best Mackenzie Hughes 2 & 1 but lost to Victor Perez 4 & 3 to finish T-5th. In the FedExCup playoffs, missed the cut at the Northern Trust and was T-6th at the BMW Championship, then finished 14th at the Tour Championship. Played in his tenth Ryder Cup, just one short of Nick Faldo's 11, the highest number for the European team. Garcia finished with a 3-1-0 record for the week. His only loss came in his singles match against Bryson DeChambeau 3 & 2. He partnered with Jon Rahm for his three team victories.
2022 Notes: Played in 13 PGA Tour events, making 9 cuts with one top-10 finish. He played in 8 DP World Tour events, making five cuts; his best finish was T-12th at the Dubai Desert Classic. Was T-7th at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Finished T-26th at the Players, extending his streak of consecutive cuts made to 18, which ended when he didn't play in the event in 2023.
2023 Notes: Was T-28th at the PIF Saudi International and T-5th at the International Series Oman. Played in two majors, missed the cut at the Masters and T-27th at the U.S. Open.