2017? Vamos.
Sergio Garcia enjoyed a phenomenal 12 months on the global stage, winning three times on the European Tour - including an emotional first Major Championship at Augusta National in April. He then wrapped up a memorable year both on and off the course by being named Hilton European Tour Golfer of the Year for the first time in his illustrious career.
The 37 year old started 2017 with intent, sealing his 12th European Tour title, and his first in three years, at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in February. In an utterly dominant performance, he set the tone with an opening 65 at Emirates Golf Club and completed his wire-to-wire victory with a bogey-free 69 to get to 19 under par and beat the 2016 Open Champion and Race to Dubai Number One Henrik Stenson by three shots. It was a commanding victory, which hinted at what was to come for the Spaniard.
"I'm very happy to play the way I played. The way I handled some of the key moments and to beat Henrik, we all know how great a player he is,” said Garcia.
"Even on the 18th with a four-shot lead I knew that I needed to hit a good third shot because you can mess it up a little bit there if you're not careful. Henrik is always there so you've got to stay calm and collected with him.
"It's a great start to the year so we're going to try to keep going the same way."
The greatest moment of his career was to come two months later as Garcia finally fulfilled the raw potential he showed when finishing runner-up in the US PGA Championship in 1999, the year he won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award.
In total it took him 74 attempts to claim the Major his talent so richly deserved, having previously recorded 22 top ten finishes, but it was certainly worth the wait, as he prevailed in an unforgettable battle with Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose.
The pair shared the lead after the third round and produced a final day that will go down in Masters folklore, trading blow after blow for 18 holes as they carded matching closing rounds of 69.
Having endured his share of heartache across the years, it was finally Garcia’s time. Rose found the pine straw on the first extra hole and then missed his par effort, before the Spaniard rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt for an emotional victory, to become the third Spaniard to claim the famous Green Jacket, following in the footsteps of his compatriots and idols Seve Ballesteros and José María Olazábal.
Fittingly, Garcia’s triumph came on the day the legendary Ballesteros would have turned 60, and he admitted that both the significant date and a message from Olazábal were on his mind on that final day.
"It definitely popped in my mind a few times. There's no doubt about it," he said. "I'm sure he (Ballesteros) helped a little bit with some of those shots or some of those putts.
"Obviously a lot of great notes from family, friends, throughout the beginning of the week and a lot of cute and beautiful notes from my fiancée were stuck in the mirror of the bathroom. All those things helped a lot.
"I think that obviously José Maria's was very special because he's my idol. Him and Seve are both my golfing idols since I was very, very little. You know what he said? He mentioned you know what you have to do, just believe in yourself.”
“I think that mentally I was probably as calm and as confident as I have ever been going into Augusta, and probably any Major, so that probably helped. As the week went on and the way I felt, I started thinking this could be the week, but you never know.”
After a tied second place finish at the BMW International Open in June, when he finished one stroke behind Andres Romero, the rest of the summer was all about off-course celebrations for Garcia as he married fiancé Angela Akins in Texas the following month.
The Masters victory was his 13th European Tour title, but that number was far from unlucky as he continued an outstanding season in October, securing his third victory of 2017 on home soil with victory in the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, an event hosted by his own Foundation.
Garcia was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the European Tour, as well as that of Real Club Valderrama, during the tournament week and ended it with the trophy, as he continued his love affair with one of Europe’s top golf courses – by claiming a one stroke victory over Dutchman Joost Luiten after another epic final round duel.
Shrugging off the pressure of hosting his own event and playing on home soil for the first time since his Major breakthrough, Garcia closed with a final round 67 for a 12 under par total of 272 and his sixth European Tour win on Spanish soil. Fittingly, the week also heralded more joy on the home-front, with the announcement that he and his new wife were looking forward to the birth of their first child in 2018.
“Everybody knows that Valderrama is my favourite golf course in the world and it was just an amazing week, not only because of winning but the amount of people that came to watch. It was the first time I was playing a professional tournament after winning Augusta in Spain, so to become Honorary Member at Valderrama and Life Membership on the European Tour, there were a lot of great things happening that week and to finish it off by winning and having a really great match on Sunday with Joost Luiten was a dream come true.”
Garcia finished the year in fourth position in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, with a tie for fourth in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai also contributing to his superb individual season.
In recognition of his achievements, a panel consisting of members of the golfing media voted him as winner of the Hilton European Tour Golfer of the Year award for 2017, an award Ballesteros won on three occasions – in 1986, 1988 and 1991.
While reflecting on a special year, Garcia admitted that his focus is now shifting to the possibility of a ninth appearance in The Ryder Cup, as golf’s greatest team event returns to Continental Europe for the first time since 1997, when Ballesteros led Europe to victory in his homeland at Valderrama.
"This is an amazing honour,” said Garcia. “I think both on and off the golf course it has been a unique and unbelievable year, and one that I will definitely remember my whole life.
“I am so happy to receive this award, and to be named the Hilton European Tour Golfer of the Year, against the calibre of players that were in contention is incredible. Tommy, Justin, Tyrrell and Jon are all amazing players, and all had unbelievable years themselves.
“With the five of us filling the top five places in the Race to Dubai, it shows the real strength of the European Tour, and European players in particular, and hopefully we will keep that going for next September in Paris.”
