Sergio Garcia ruined his chances of repeating as Masters champion in 2018 with a single hole on Thursday, but he is handling it about as well as you could expect.
Garcia carded a 13 — that’s right, 13 — on the par-5 15th hole at Augusta National during the first round of the Masters after he put five balls into the water. The scene looked like one right out of the movie “Tin Cup,” and Garcia addressed it on Friday morning.
Sergio won't be naming his next kid Firethorn.
— Rich Lerner (@RichLernerGC) April 5, 2018
What happened on 15 @TheMasters yesterday was unfortunate for me and it hurt but I tried to handle it like a Masters Champion should. That same hole gave me that green jacket last year so we might end up naming our next kid Firethorn after all, funny man! https://t.co/vMIDTMGhrf
— Sergio Garcia (@TheSergioGarcia) April 6, 2018
For those of you who don’t get the reference, Garcia and his wife Angela Akins welcomed their first child last month. They named the little girl Azalea, which was an appropriate choice given that it is also the name of the 13th hole at Augusta. It was on that hole that Garcia made an incredible par during the final round of the Masters last year that set him up for the first major championship of his career. The hole got off to a bad start when he had to take a one-stroke penalty after his drive ended up under an azalea bush.
As Garcia alluded to, the 15th hole also treated him pretty well a year ago. He played the hole at 4-under for the tournament and eagled it during the final round. While the video of him putting balls in the water on Thursday is tough to watch, Garcia has plenty of good memories from the Masters to help comfort him.
