"In 13 years I've come to the conclusion that I need to play for second or third place".
Later that year, Harrington said: "We have zero in common, bar the fact that we both play golf".
Indeed, everywhere Garcia walked at Hazeltine, he heard chants from the home crowd reminding him of his failure to win a major. Fowler has been floating around the top 10 in majors for a while and does have a Players Championship to his credit.
Both men played the ideal hole up until the green where Rose missed a seven-foot birdie putt to hand Garcia his chance, but he rolled a shorter - but arguably more testing putt - wide of the hole and they would soon replay the last.
"It's awesome. It's something I always hoped I would achieve but I didn't know if I was going to do it", he said. "But I can live with that".
Whatever the reason, fans saw something from Garcia they had never seen before. In fact, just five years ago the Spaniard had ruled himself out of ever winning a major championship.
Drawing strength from Spain's greatest golfers, Garcia finally managed to win a major, giving "El Nino" a Masters green jacket and giving the country's golden generation of sports stars a new life.
Yet, victory was still out of reach for someone who had amassed 31 wins during his professional career.
President Assad Says Chemical Attack 100 Percent Fabrication
Assad's government told the organization it had a 1,300-ton stockpile of chemical weapons and chemicals used to make them. He said his forces had not been diminished by the USA strike.
As well as losing out to Woods in his prime at the USPGA in 1999, Garcia was runner-up at the 2007 and 2014 Open Championships and the 2008 PGA.
Garcia is not the first player that endured bad breaks and heartache in the majors before finally winning one.
"He did mention a couple of things that kind of touched my heart a little bit". "Yeah, I don't think I helped him whatsoever on the round".
"I felt like I had an opportunity on Saturday to shoot something in the mid to high 60s which would have got me closer to the lead and I didn't quite do that". But in the past, I would have started going at my caddie 'why doesn't it go through and whatever?' But I was like, well, if that's what is supposed to happen, let it happen. "I felt positive. I felt confident". I'd like to win three or four green jackets, but one would be enough you know.
Garcia talked about the support he had all week from family and friends, the heartfelt text he received from his countryman and two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, who said, "I'm not sharing my locker at the moment, and I hope that I get to do it with you".
It was revealed that she left a number of notes on the bathroom mirror in the lead up and throughout the Masters.
And, Sergio was blown away by the support he got at Augusta this year.
"Obviously this is something I wanted to do for a long time, but it never felt like a horror movie", Garcia said. "It is good for him to have the monkey off his back and I am very pleased for him". "And I hit one of the best putts I hit all week".
Comments