Sergio Garcia has made a whole lot of noise the first two days here.
He navigated the treacherous Augusta National grounds with care and handled the severe, gusting winds as adroitly as a seaworthy sailor. He toured the dangerous premises bogey-free on the first day of the tournament and was one of just 11 in a field of 93 golfers to post an under-par score at 71.
On Friday, he did even better. He hit the ground running and for the first time in his 19 trips to this place birdied the first three holes. That includes No. 1, which, given a perfect breeze at just the right time, God might come away with a birdie.
And so Garcia turned in a 3-under 69 — only his 10th round in the 60s in his 64 Masters rounds — to position himself in a four-way tie with first-round leader Charley Hoffman, Masters rookie Thomas Pieters and the world’s No. 8-ranked Rickie Fowler. None of them has won a major either, and the placid Pieters has played in just three. Hoffman’s playing in his fourth Masters.
For Garcia, Augusta’s been just one more golfing graveyard when it comes to majors, in which he’s 0 for 73.
By day’s end, halfway through the tournament, the 37-year-old poster boy for hard luck was asked at what point he seriously began to ponder that he might win this year’s Masters for the first major championship of his very long career.
“Thursday morning,” he said, unblinkingly.
That, for fans of the happy-go-unlucky Spaniard, represents major progress, if you will. He’s that confident, that sure of himself and his game.
In the past, Garcia probably never thought he had a chance to win this tournament, the only major held at the same venue every year. Just five years ago, he ripped himself and outright said he didn’t have what it takes to win a Masters. Or any major.
He’s changed since then and owes his peace of mind to those around him, including fiancée Angela Akins.
When asked if he’d changed, he playfully joked, “You guys don’t like me? You want me to change?”
Garcia is in a good place. On the leaderboard. And in life.
And he certainly sees the connection. So does Akins.
Asked if he’s in a better frame of mind on the golf course, she said, “I hope so.” But even she’s aware of his near-misses and offered, “There are two more rounds.”
Akins knows the challenges on the Tour as a former Longhorn golfer and Golf Channel reporter. They are set to be married in mid-July in the same Hill Country where Sergio went out for bow-hunting target practice just a week ago.
“He really does enjoy it,” said former Longhorns All-America quarterback Marty Akins, who will become Garcia’s father-in-law in three months. “It’s like playing golf. You’ve got to calm your heart and steady yourself. He’s very accurate. He likes to shoot targets.”
The 11th-ranked player in the world has been aiming at big ones for quite some time. The Masters represents his 74th appearance in a major. Though he’s not won a single one, he’s come oh so very close. He does have 12 top fives in majors, including four runner-up finishes, but the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship have all eluded him, just outside his grasp.
Garcia showed none of the putting woes that have plagued him before, although he did push his 5-foot birdie attempt wide on his closing hole. He’s hit 85 percent of Augusta’s fairways and stayed out of trouble other than on the 10th hole, where he scored a bogey. He posted six birdies Friday, but the first one steadied him.
“I think the birdie on 1 was massive because it’s probably the toughest pin we have on that one,” he admitted. “It gave me a lot of confidence, knowing that I probably stole one there.”
Sergio stealing one? Heck, Augusta owes him. He tied for 34th here last year and 17th the year before. Those runs at the green jacket in 2013, 2004 and 2002 seem so long ago.
Garcia’s at peace with whatever lies ahead but would dearly love to end that string. And why shouldn’t that streak end?
Didn’t UConn’s unbeatable women get beat?
Didn’t Alabama’s dominance come to an end?
Didn’t Kansas beat a, uh, one-time college football power?
And maybe the playful, perspective-embracing Garcia will end his own string of personal defeats by calming his nerves, by keeping his drives straight, by having some good fortune of his own and make off with the green jacket at a place that hasn’t exactly embraced him?
Could it only be coincidence that the late Seve Ballesteros, Garcia’s boyhood idol, would have turned 60 on Sunday, the day a new Masters champion will put on the green jacket? In 1980, Ballesteros became the first Spaniard to win a Masters, and he did it again three years later.
“It would mean a lot,” Garcia said. “But at the same time, it’s Friday afternoon. It’s not Sunday.”
No, it’s not. But most around him think he will win. If not Sunday, then someday.
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