Mark WiedmerWith the sun about to disappear behind Augusta National Golf Club's towering pines, Sergio Garcia's 18-year hunt for an elusive green jacket finally over Sunday evening, three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo framed this somewhat improbable victory as only a very successful professional golfer could.
"Amazing," he said of Garcia's first major victory in his 74th attempt, "to pull yourself through the mental scar tissue."
Could anything better describe the emotional wear and tear of being the one of the best in the world yet coming up short each and every one of your first 73 attempts to become truly special in your sport?
It's not like Garcia was a star-crossed journeyman the likes of Jean van de Velde, who collapsed on the 72nd hole of the 1999 British Open. No, Garcia is routinely ranked among the top 10 golfers in the world (he stood 11th as of Sunday's dawn), has won more than $28 million in post-tax prize money and has long been one of the most popular competitors on the PGA and European tours.
All you needed to know about the strength of that popularity was to hear the deafening gallery-wide chants of "Sergi-Oh, Sergi-Oh," after his birdie putt on the first playoff hole against Justin Rose guaranteed victory.
But there had also begun to be this belief that this day would never come for him, that the 37-year-old Spaniard had been saddled with too much brain baggage over the years, doubt and bad luck lurking behind every tree limb and within every creek, pond and sand trap.
He's even said to have groused after losing a four-hole playoff to Padraig Harrington at the 2007 British Open - at least in part because his tee shot on the par-3 16th hole hit the flagstick, then bounced all the way off the green: "It's not the first time, unfortunately. I don't know I'm playing against a lot of guys out there, more than the field."
But on Sunday, if not all four days of the tournament, it felt like the ghost of one very special Spanish golfing legend was looking down on him, lifting his spirits and his game whenever it was most most needed. Seve Ballesteros would have turned 60 on Sunday if he had not passed away in 2011.
A three-time British Open winner who also twice won the Masters, Ballesteros has always been Garcia's ultimate golfing hero. But if that birthday alone wasn't enough, Garcia's caddie - Glen Murray - was wearing No. 60 on his white jumpsuit.
Then came Sunday's eagle at No. 15, which tied him with Rose. If Garcia went on to win, that would be the first eagle at 15 struck by the winner in the final round since fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal did it in 1994.
"That's crazy," said Garcia when he heard that bit of trivia inside Butler Cabin just before 2016 Masters champ Danny Willett slipped the green jacket on him.
And it was crazy. Crazy good. The whole final round, actually, right down to the hole-in-one former Georgia Tech star Matt Kuchar hit on No. 16. Only the hole-in-one wasn't much better than what Kuchar did after that shot.
Seeking out a young boy in the crowd who was wearing a Sam Snead-style straw hat and Tennessee orange shirt, Kuchar even autographed the ball for the youngster. How crazy classy is that?
But these two Europeans - for so long two of the strongest anchors of their Ryder Cup teams - were the ultimate definition of class and grace under fire.
Despite each man throwing haymakers at the other from 15 through 17 - each one gaining a stroke on his opponent on each of those holes - Garcia and Rose could not have displayed better sportsmanship, as is certainly befitting their 20-year friendship.
Said Rose afterward, his bogey putt on the first playoff hole all but assuring Garcia's win: "If there's anyone I had to lose to, I'm glad it was Sergio."
Said Garcia: "We both wanted to beat the other guy, not have him lose it."
The Masters aside, we are watching a stunning run of victories by legendary teams and individuals these days in which the winner has taken it at least as much as the runner-up gave it to him.
Say what you want of the Atlanta Falcons' Super Bowl collapse, but the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady still delivered the goods down the stretch. Then there's tennis legend Roger Federer, who not only beat his ultimate nemesis Rafael Nadal (he was 11-23 against Rafa at 2017's dawn) by coming from 3-1 down in the fifth set at the Australian Open but has also taken out Nadal in two more tournament finals in recent weeks.
Now throw in North Carolina's NCAA men's basketball championship last week after having to live for 12 months with a last-second loss to Villanova a year ago, and there has certainly been a remarkable toughness and resiliency to our recent sports champs.
But Garcia's win was special and sweet on so many fronts, from its ties to Ballesteros and Olazabal, to the long hug and kiss from fiancée Angela Akins (whom he'll marry later this year), to the fact that 18 years ago, when he first played Augusta at the age of 19, many thought he had some of the same swashbuckling charm and charisma of the untouchable Arnold Palmer, who passed away last September at age 87.
And one thing Garcia said in victory regarding the sportsmanship on display between him and Rose certainly harkened back to the glory days of Palmer - and Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, who both shed tears during a Thursday morning ceremony honoring Arnie.
"At the end of the day, we're all people," Garcia noted. "We have to represent our game the way we should."
Thankfully, no amount of mental scar tissue has changed that ideal where the newest Masters champ is concerned.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.