SERGIO GARCIA’S journey from amateur sensation to Masters champion has been a long and incredible one – and I’m proud to have followed him every step of the way.
When a 19 year Garcia won his first professional title at the Irish Open in 1999, I was amazed to see him board the flight taking us to the Scottish Open with his head shaved.
He sat in the row in front of me and then his dad, Victor, and his manager joined him – and they had shaved their heads too!
The ‘Three Amigos’ said they had made each other a promise that this was how they would celebrate Sergio’s first victory, and invited me to do the same thing – an offer I politely declined.
When I asked Garcia what he planned to do with the £200,000 he had just earned he said he really wanted to buy a PlayStation, but his father thought he should wait a while.
It struck me that it would make a good photo opportunity if The Sun granted his wish, and when I presented a Playstation to him at Loch Lomond, it sparked a friendship that has lasted nearly 20 years.
Loch Lomond was also where I introduced the young Spaniard to cricket.
His caddie, Glen Murray and I were rivals captains in the annual Press vs Caddies match at nearby Helensburgh Cricket Club, and when I saw them on the practice range I felt a bit of pre-match sledging was in order.
As I warned Murray to expect a barrage of balls around his throat Garcia took a keen interest, and said he would come along and watch.
At first he stood behind the umpire at the bowler’s end, but soon decided he wanted to be part of the action. So he trotted off, got padded up, and came out to bat in jeans and a dark polo shirt.
He would have been out first ball if our wicketkeeper had not decided against whipping the bails off with the Spaniard well out of his ground, telling him he was entitled to a ‘Mulligan’.
But his hand eye co-ordination quickly kicked in and he flayed three balls to the boundary in one over before his stumps were flattened.
He also insisted on fielding, and Murray had his heart in his mouth when Garcia tried to take a high catch, because a broken finger would have meant a few weeks without pay.
Instead I was the one who got injured – dislocating my shoulder after falling flat on my face while attempting a quick single.
After a quick trip to the local hospital Garcia called me “Stupido”, and threatened to do more damage with the nearest cricket bat!
Sergio has a reputation for being cantankerous at times, and he does have his moments.
But without telling anyone, he paid the entire bar bill that night, also took care of the buffet, and spent more than an hour signing bats, pads and everything else the disbelieving Helensburgh staff could get their hands on
I first saw him when he played in the 1996 Open as a 16 year old – he qualified by becoming the youngest ever winner of the European Amateur Championship a year earlier.
Garcia missed the cut on seven over par, but that was still three shots better than his boyhood idol, Seve Ballesteros.
He also had three other Major champions behind him in Paul Azinger, Lee Janzen and Ian Baker-Finch.
A couple of weeks after his breakthrough victory in Ireland I watched Garcia weep uncontrollably on the shoulder of his mother, Consuelo, after rounds of 89-83 saw him miss the cut in the Open at Carnoustie on THIRTY over par. He was still a kid.
A few weeks later at the 1999 USPGA we saw the joyous side of Garcia, when he played THAT shot from the tree roots at Medinah, racing after his ball and executing a brilliant scissor kick to get a better look at where it finished.
Garcia was snapping at Tiger Woods’ heels all that week – prompting an animosity that boiled over with Garcia’s remark about cooking “fried chicken” if they bumped into each other at a US Open.
That seemed thoughtless rather than racist, but it took Garcia a public apology and a long while to live it down.
He finished runner-up to Woods in that US PGA, the first of four second places, two thirds and six other top five finishes in his 73 Major appearances before Augusta. I was there for all of them, wondering if he would ever win one.
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Carnoustie was also the venue for the most painful of his many near-misses in the the Majors, at the 2007 Open.
He led from day one, but Padraig Harrington came from six shots back in the final round to tie the Spaniard, and snatched away the Claret Jug in a four hole play-off.
So it was fitting that Garcia should finally claim that elusive Major title in another play-off, after a truly epic battle with Justin Rose.
Great play Sergio. Now, can I have my bat back?
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