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Paul McGinley reflects on Sergio Garcia's Masters disaster at 15

Sergio Garcia walks onto the 15th green during the first round of the 2018 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club

After Sergio Garcia ran up a horrific 13, with five balls in the water on the 15th hole, Paul McGinley looks back on the defending champion's Masters disaster.

Is there any way back for Sergio this week? Unfortunately, I very much doubt it. Only one player in the last 20 years has made a double-bogey in the tournament and won the Masters.

Sergio Garcia after carding a 13 on the 15th hole during the first round of the 2018 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club
Image: Sergio Garcia equalled the highest score on any hole in Masters history

That's been Rory's problem each year, he tends to average two double-bogeys per round and that's something he's got to clean up if he wants that Green Jacket, because he certainly makes enough birdies.

But you just cannot run up a big number and win around here. Even if Sergio had made seven, it's a blow psychologically as well as to your scorecard, and the weight of history is ominous for him now. He'll do well to make the cut.

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Doing well at Augusta is not just about making birdies, it's also about limiting the mistakes and avoiding the big numbers. I fear Garcia's tournament is done, because it'll be so tough for him to come back from an 81.

The one glimmer of hope for him is Curtis Strange. He shot 80 in the first round of the 1985 Masters, but he bounced back with a 65 to make the cut, then a 68, and he actually led the tournament by three shots with six holes to play before he found water at 13 and 15 and finished two behind Bernhard Langer.

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Reigning Masters Champion Sergio Garcia hits the water five times on the 15th hole on the first day at Augusta.

But this is a different era, and the level of competition is so much stronger now. He'll do very well to make the cut, but it's a big ask for him. As for getting back into contention, I feel that's incredibly unlikely. And that's a real shame when you're defending champion.

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Will this affect him going forward? No, I don't believe it will. What happened happened, it was one bad hole and it's one of the intricacies of golf, and one of the intricacies of Augusta. It's not like he was hitting hit fat and dunking it straight in the water, he hit them well and just put too a little much spin on the ball.

Sergio Garcia during the first round of the 2018 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club
Image: Garcia put five balls in the water at 15 and ended up shooting an 81

He'll put it down as one of those things, and I don't think there's any need for him, or anyone else, to overreact to this. For me, it's not a situation to over-analyse. We've seen this happen before at Augusta, and I've no doubt we'll see it again in the future.

We'll move on, and Sergio will move on.

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