Sergio Garcia proud to emulate Seve Ballesteros' record on PGA Tour
Monday 23 May 2016 14:40, UK
Sergio Garcia could not contain his pride at emulating the late Seve Ballesteros after clinching his ninth PGA Tour title at the AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas.
Garcia put two balls in the water on the back nine at the TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, but his battling final-round 68 was good enough to tie Brooks Koepka for the lead on 15 under par.
Koepka then pulled his drive at the first extra hole into the hazard, and Garcia flushed his down the middle of the fairway to set-up a cast-iron par which earned him his first win in the United States for almost four years.
Ballesteros had been the most successful Spaniard on the PGA Tour since winning the last of his nine titles in 1988, and Garcia has now joined him after lifting the Byron Nelson title for the second time - 12 years after his first.
Garcia's performance on the final day also bore similarities to his esteemed compatriot, frequently out of position throughout his round before scrambling a number of clutch pars with a deft touch on and around the greens.
"It's awesome. To be up there with Seve it means the world to me, you can kind of say I went a little bit 'a la Seve' today," said Garcia, whose last PGA Tour win was the Wyndham Championship in August, 2012.
"I definitely wasn't driving the ball great until the end and couple of iron shots here and there, but I was chipping and putting great. Some of Seve's wins were like that and I'm very proud of it. I've been awfully close the last four years on the PGA Tour and to win here again, doing it for the second time and tying Seve with nine wins means a lot."
When asked if he was aware he had matched the record of Ballesteros, Garcia added: "I didn't know, but I obviously found out after winning and it means so much to be right next to him on that aspect. It's another achievement that I couldn't be prouder of and, you know, to be next to a legend like him, it's amazing.
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"It was hard, really difficult out there. But I kept my composure and I'm very proud of the way I played the last four holes and then the play-off hole. That shows a lot to me and very, very happy about that."
