Actually, Sergio Garcia didn’t blow it in a major and won the 2017 Masters

Sergio Garcia has always been physically good enough to win a major, that’s never been in doubt. But as is attributed to Yogi Berra about the game of baseball, “golf is 90 percent mental and the other half physical.” But now, he’s the 2017 Masters champion, despite the fact that his history with majors has been anything but triumphant before today. Here’s how he got here after a couple heartbreaking moments in majors.

This was the first of two second place finishes at the PGA. Garcia, then 19 years old, ran up against another young stud that final round: Tiger Woods.

Garcia shot to the lead after the first round and was two shots off the lead heading into the final round. He pulled off this now famous scissor kick golf shot on 16 to put pressure on Woods, and would trim his deficit to one shot before Woods got the better of him.

If anything, this should have set up the rivalry of the century between two incredible young talents. But Tiger’s star shot up and trophies began to pile up, Garcia never really reached the potential in major championships that he showed that week at Medinah.

Sergio led wire-to-wire that week at Carnoustie, until the final round, his only over par round for the tournament. Garcia had an agonizing bogey on 18 with the opportunity to win the tournament, but couldn’t sink it and a playoff was forced.

A bogey on the first playoff hole effectively sunk his chances, and he’d experience major championship despair again. This time much closer than his last second-place finish.

The next year, Garcia would again be in contention and held the lead at one point. He faded in the last three holes however, and would finish tied for second.

He (obviously) wasn’t pleased after it was over, but denied the fact that this was in fact a disappointment.

“I’m fine, I was worse when I finished the open championship than this year. ... I lost it [at Carnoustie] on the back nine.”

I marveled at the ability to compartmentalize memories that are at best abjectly miserable.

When Garcia’s shot went in the woods on 13 at Augusta National during the 2017 Masters, it looked like Garcia was cooked because we’d seen this movie before. But he rebounded to hit this epic approach shot on the 15th hole and would eagle the hole to tie Justin Rose.

His missed putt on the 72nd hole to win the Masters was destined, right? Heartbreak is Garcia’s story at Majors — not this day. And not this time.

Garcia buried his ghosts, and although these nightmares go in the history books when we talk about him, they’ll sit under one thing: Masters champion.