The Arnold Palmer of Europe was Seve Ballesteros, who was very, very good when he hit his drives straight and even better when they went crooked. In 1980, three months after Sergio Garc\u00eda was born, Ballesteros won the first of his two Masters titles.<\/p>\n
Like generations of American players who loved Palmer, Garc\u00eda grew up wanting to be like the swashbuckling Ballesteros, whose influence on Garc\u00eda\u2019s golf and his life was immense. Nearly six years after Ballesteros died of brain cancer, on what would have been his 60th birthday, Garc\u00eda conquered Justin Rose, Augusta National Golf Club and his demons \u2014 not necessarily in that order \u2014 to win the 81st Masters.<\/p>\n
It was Garc\u00eda\u2019s first major title in his 74th start, and perhaps fittingly, he had to go an extra hole to secure it after missing a seven-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole that would have ended the tournament in regulation. When his ball steered clear of the hole, it might have conjured memories of the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie, where Garc\u00eda also had a putt for victory at the 72nd hole, missed it and then lost in a playoff to Padraig Harrington.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sergio Garc\u00eda won the Masters in a playoff, taking his first major 18 years after he burst on the scene as a teen https:\/\/t.co\/RX0GnhqXWz<\/a><\/p>\n — The New York Times (@nytimes) April 10, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n