Sergio Garcia

Lore & Background

García has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking, including over 300 weeks in the top 10 between 2000 and 2009, and over 450 weeks in the top 10 in total. He reached his highest career ranking, second, after winning the HSBC Champions tournament in November 2008. García has achieved career earnings of more than US$43 million. As a player, he is noted for strong iron play and accuracy. In the Ryder Cup, he competed in ten of the eleven matches playing during his professional career cumulatively earning a record 28.5 points during those matches.

In Their Own Story

The August air over Augusta hangs thick and still, the kind of humidity that makes the back of your shirt cling and the ball sit a shade lower on the tee. Garcia stands over a 12-footer on the 15th, the kind of putt that, on any other day, he'd tap in without a second thought. But this is the Masters, and the gallery is a wall of silent, expectant faces. He crouches, aligns, and the ball rolls with that familiar, unhurried arc—past the hole, kissing the lip, and dropping. He doesn't celebrate. He simply nods, pulls his cap lower, and walks to the next hole. The crowd exhales. Somewhere in the distance, a rival is still fighting for par. Garcia is already thinking about the 16th. That's the thing about the Birdman: the moment everyone else is feeling the weight of the occasion, he's already three holes ahead in his head, calm as a man who has done this a thousand times. And in a way, he has.

Reader's Guide

García began playing golf at the age of three and was taught by his father, Victor, who is a club professional. García won his club championship at age 12. At the age of 16, Garcia set a record as the youngest player to make the cut at a European Tour event, the 1995 Turespaña Open Mediterrania. In 1995, García became the youngest player to win the European Amateur. He followed that with a win in the Boys Amateur Championship in 1997. He won a professional tournament, the 1997 Catalan Open, as an amateur. Garcia was part of the Spanish teams winning the European Boys' Team Championship in 1996 and 1997. In 1998, he won The Amateur Championship at Muirfield and reached the semi-finals of the U.S. Amateur. He also finished second in the 1998 Argentine Open, being the low amateur, and winning the Pereira Iraola Cup.

Did You Know?

• García shot the lowest amateur score in the 1999 Masters Tournament.
• His first European Tour title came in July 1999 at the Irish Open.
• He made an albatross on the par-5 second hole at the Masters in 2002.
• García won the 2008 Players Championship in a sudden-death playoff against Paul Goydos.
• He is the all-time Ryder Cup points leader with 28.5 points.