Masters 2017 final leaderboard: Sergio Garcia wins the green jacket

The year’s first golf major has its champion as Sergio Garcia won the Masters.

Just like the Open Championship last summer, the fun here was the epic duel coming down to the wire at Augusta. It was essentially match play between Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose, so much so that CBS pretty much stopped showing the others golfers on the course because nobody was within three shots. It was fun as the two men just traded haymakers coming down the stretch.

It came down to sudden death, as Rose and Garcia each missed birdie putts on 18 to end it after sticking shot after shot and putt after putt over the last four holes.

On the 18th once again, after Garcia and Rose each had just missed putts to win, it was Sergio finishing strong. A drive in the fairway and stuck approach while Rose found trouble off the tee gave Garcia all he needed to win his first major, a green jacket at Augusta National.

Here’s the final leaderboard after the dust has settled.

For other golfers, things weren’t so exciting. Jordan Spieth surged on Saturday, and he was in the penultimate group on Sunday with the lead in grasp. But he just couldn’t really get anything going on the day, and it all came to a head on No. 12, when he put the ball in the water again, just like he did in last year’s tournament.

The 12th, a treacherous 155-yarder, is the shortest hole at Augusta National, but the Golden Bell — as the lovely spot is called — plays like a monster. The wind gusts alone have wrecked havoc with the scores of some of the best ever to play the game.

That doomed what faint hopes Spieth had of winning the thing. Rickie Fowler, Spieth’s playing partner on the day, also faded, unable to build any momentum and win his first major. Rory Mcllroy also backdoored his way to a top-10 finish.

At one point, it looked like Rose was going to run away with the thing after Sergio had a pretty terrible stretch between hole Nos. 10-14, but Sergio dug deep and pulled out some magic on No. 15 with this epic approach shot that hit the flag.

Garcia would eagle the hole, and put pressure on Rose as the final three holes approached. Rose birdied 16, and Garcia came up short on a putt and things went to 17 tied up, where Garcia again came up short on a birdie putt and we went to the last tied.

Both played the 18th nearly identically, driving to about the same spot and leaving their approaches to about the same distance on different sides of the hole — Rose with a nice kick off the edge of the green and Garcia with a dart at the pin ... again. And neither could capitalize as each left their putts outside the hole to force sudden death.

Back on the 18th for the playoff, Rose found the trees off the tee and topped his punch out, leaving Sergio all the opening he needed. In the end, he rolled in a putt for birdie that hung around the edge and lipped in, a fitting finish for his first major victory.