The Spaniard pursues the green jacket of the Masters, a tournament that starts today and that has always been elusive
Like the three ghosts of Christmas by Charles Dickens, those of the Augusta Masters came together on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. on the tee of the 10th hole of the tournament that begins today to play a particular match. The first, which represents the past, is JOsé Maria Olazabal hitting woods from all corners of Augusta National, impossible for the double champion. For the veteran Basque player, making the cut seems like a heroic act.
The second is Sergio Garcia, who lives between the honeys of the past and the indecision of the present. There was a time when the man from Castellón was Mr. Scrooge of the Masters: if the mud on the ball, if the greens… everything bothered him, until 2017 arrived and the story had a happy ending and he dressed in green . Today, out of place in world golf, Sergio is closer than ever, it’s as if he needed that love that he always had, even though his sporting performance is unknown. “You are always looking forward to the Masters, it is a special, different and iconic week,” said the player from Borriol.
The third man of the match, Jon Rahm, represents the ghost of the future, and surely in his dreams he has had a thousand appearances with the green jacket. The Masters has not been thanked in its six participations. “I have never reached the last nine holes on Sunday with a real chance of victory,” recalled the Barrika champion in his last meeting with the press. In 2018 he was fourth.
In this 2023, Jon Rahm has signed a brilliant start, with three almost consecutive victories, although in recent weeks he has not been so comfortable with his swing. The world number three confesses that he is a “player from week to week”, and now his game seems to be in good shape. Rahm likes to define himself as un yonki del golfMany of the historical videos broadcast on YouTube are known almost by heart, such as the 1980 Masters by Severiano Ballesteros, or the 1983 Masters. The edition that begins today serves to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Cantabrian second victory.
What Rahm did not know is that next Sunday, April 9, when the Masters crowns its champion, is the day Seve celebrates his birthday. The last time the end of the tournament coincided with the birth day of the Pedreña genius, Sergio García won his only major. When this coincidence is mentioned to Rahm, he is thoughtful and says: “Don’t put any more pressure on me.” Tiger Woods also had words of remembrance for Seve remembering how much he learned in his first practice laps alongside Severiano and Olazábal.
All tournament winners gather at the Champions Dinner, turned this year by Scottie Scheffler into cholesterol party Among the 33 confirmed green jackets, there are six LIV Gol players. “I will sit with Olazábal”, Sergio García was quick to say, who hopes that the atmosphere will be “cordial”. It was García himself who denied that there is any agreement between the LIV players to organize a media show in the event of victory for one of them, as it seems that Greg Norman would have suggested. The truth is that this golf war is increasingly unbalanced against the Saudi funds. The last blow is a judicial ruling that supports the European Circuit, so the DP World Tour could sanction the LIV players who participated in its events. Sergio García, who could be one of the victims of this measure, receives the news from the press. «That sentence had not reached me, I am not involved in all those things, I don’t care. I am doing what I like, where I like », he replied.
To degrease the tense news of the Masters, the Spanish party was, unintentionally, an accomplice in a marriage proposal. As Olazábal, Sergio and Rahm left the 11th green and headed for the 12th tee, an American boy knelt on the grass and took a ring out of his pocket. She immediately agreed crying and they kissed passionately. to the cheers of the crowd. Olazábal and Rahm ran to congratulate the couple and Sergio joined the celebration. A photo immortalized the moment. “He told us that we were his three favorite players and he wanted to take advantage of the moment that the three of us were together. We have congratulated him, ”García recalled.
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