Garcia Masters Augusta to end major drought.
Sergio Garcia ended nearly two decades of major heartbreak when he beat Justin Rose in a playoff to win the U.S. Masters on Sunday on what would have been the 60th birthday of his hero, the late Seve Ballesteros.
"I did think about, am I ever going to win one?"
admitted Garcia.
Garcia and Rose both carded 69 to finish tied on nine-under-par 279, three strokes clear of 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, sending the year’s first major to a playoff when both missed birdie putts at the 72nd hole.
To do it on his (Ballesteros’) 60th birthday and to join him and Jose Maria Olazabal, my two idols in golf, it is something amazing," said Garcia.
Garcia has been plagued by self doubt in the majors and once said he did not have what it takes to be a major winner.
On Sunday, though, he demonstrated during an enthralling rollercoaster battle with Rose that he does indeed possess the tools, demeanor and determination of a champion.
Garcia and Rose traded birdies on the front nine to make the turn tied, before Garcia bogeyed the 10th and 11th holes as Rose took a two-shot lead with six holes left.
They were on level terms two holes later after Garcia almost made an albatross at the par-five 15th, his eight-iron second landing inches short of the hole before brushing the pin and trickling 14 feet away, from where he made his eagle putt, the ball teetering on the edge of the cup before toppling in.

Sergio Garcia of Spain birdied the first hole in a sudden-death playoff to outlast Justin Rose of England and win the Masters on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., breaking his 0-for-73 drought in major tournaments.
Both players missed birdie putts – Rose’s was from 10 feet while Garcia’s was from 5 feet – on the 18th hole to push the tournament into a sudden-death playoff tied at 9-under-par 279.
The players returned to the 18th tee for the first playoff hole.
Garcia ripped his approach to 10 feet before Rose found the green on his third shot well outside the Spaniard’s ball, meaning he would have to putt first.
Both players shot 3-under-par 69s on Sunday before heading into the playoff.
Then the duo was tied again when Garcia parred and Rose bogeyed the par-4 17th after hitting his approach shot into the bunker short of the green.
Kuchar had a hole-in-one on the 16th hole.
Rose and Garcia began the final round tied for the lead at 6 under but the Spaniard, playing in his 74th major event and still looking for his first win, quickly moved to a three-shot lead thanks to birdies on the par-4 first hole and the par-4 third and Rose’s bogey on the par-4 fifth.
Rose turned things around with three straight birdies on the par-3 sixth, the par-4 seventh and the par-5 eighth holes, and the two players hit the back nine tied at 8 under.
He dropped another shot on the par-4 11th when he drove his ball into the woods to the left of the fairway and couldn’t fashion a par; Rose walked off the 11th green with a two-shot lead.

Sergio Garcia wins the Masters, ends drought at the majors.
Sergio Garcia finally showed he has what it takes to win a major, and he has a green jacket to prove it.
Needing his best golf on just about every shot in the final hour at the Masters, Garcia overcame a two-shot deficit with six holes to play and beat Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff Sunday for his first major after nearly two decades of heartache.
No one ever played more majors as a pro — 70 — before winning one for the first time.
It was never easy until the end, when Rose sent his drive into the trees on the 18th hole in the playoff, punched out and failed to save par from 15 feet.
Rose was just over the back of the green in two, on the verge of turning a two-shot lead into four.
He hit wedge to 7 feet and escaped with par.
The lead stayed at two shots but not for long.
Rose took the lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 16th and gave it back by missing a 7-foot par putt on the 18th.
He had to birdie three of his last four holes for a 75.