2016 AT&T Byron Nelson results: Sergio Garcia escapes with playoff win in Dallas

If you forgot that 2016 is a Ryder Cup year, this Sunday in the world of golf was an emphatic smack across the face to remind you. The year started with so much American promise, so many super talents in their 20s ready to take over the world and turn over the USA Ryder Cup roster. That could very well still happen, but we’ve certainly hit a lull in recent months.

The Euros, on the other hand, went out on Sunday and lit it up on both sides of the Atlantic. In the morning, there was Rory McIlroy, putting on a show at the Irish Open with some of the brilliance that makes him the most exciting talent in the game. In the afternoon, it was Sergio Garcia’s turn, winning on the PGA Tour for the first time in four years and taking the AT&T Byron Nelson for a second time. Two Euro standbys getting it done again as the biggest stretch of the season bears down.

It was at this event that Sergio made his pro debut in the USA, beginning with an opening round 62 some 17 years ago as a fresh-faced teenager. In the intervening years, Sergio has acquired a ton of scar tissue, piled up wins around the world, and become a Ryder Cup legend.

There have been few things like the Sergio experience and this Sunday was certainly another ride on that rollercoaster. Garcia was obviously comfortable with the event and the venue, given his history, but he still needed to pull off a multi-shot chasedown of Brooks Koepka, the big-hitting American who’s supposed to become a key player in a new era of the Ryder Cup. It looked like Garcia would check out early from the chase, putting two balls in the water and scratching around TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas. He also had four birdies in his first seven holes and kept taking aggressive lines off the tee despite not having what he called his “A-game.”

Garcia was all over the place on Sunday, but still got into the house with a 2-under 68. That was good enough to get to 15-under for the tournament and to match Koepka, who stalled out on the back nine and came in with a 2-over 37 to open it back up for the Spaniard.

In the first and only playoff hole, Koepka yanked his drive left into the water.

A normal person would watch that and maybe throttle down, take a lesser club and a more conservative line. Not Sergio. He kept driver in hand and then cut the corner right over the water and just into the fairway. It was academic from there and Garcia matched his idol, Seve Ballesteros, as the winningest Spaniard ever on the PGA Tour with his ninth victory.

The day started with so much hype around that final pairing of Koepka and Jordan Spieth, the hometown favorite who said he felt completely uncomfortable over the ball all week in Dallas. It showed and Spieth hit it all over the yard and wasn’t much of a factor all day. Koepka raced out to a nice multi-shot lead, but then sputtered to the finish line with an underwhelming back nine and a barf-inducing playoff hole.

The Euros? Well ... two of the best ever came through again.

We’ve got a long summer ahead of us before the Ryder Cup in the fall, but then again, this is what they do in these even-numbered years. Koepka (and Spieth obviously) will win again and win big on the PGA Tour, but this was a day for two Euro legends to make a couple statements.

The Tour now heads down the street to Fort Worth for the historic stop at Colonial. Your final results from the Byron Nelson:

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