The last time anyone saw Sergio Garcia on a golf course he was slipping on the Green Jacket at the Masters last month.
Since then, he’s been on a whirlwind tour, a world-wide celebration that has taken him from New York to Spain and finally back to Ponte Vedra Beach and Thursday’s first round of The Players Championship.
“I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t a great day out there. I was nervous, it was a terrible start. I was edgy a little nervy early on,” Garcia confessed.
He shot a dreadful 40 on the front nine and was four-over going to the par five 16th. He managed to make birdie there then made the walk to the world-famous 17th and it’s island green.
Playing 137 yards, Garcia was up first even though playing partner Adam Scott was six-under for the day.
Garcia pulled wedge and hit it on a perfect line. His ball landed about four feet short of the hole, one-hopped and stopped two inches behind the hole and spun back in for an ace, the 18th this year on the PGA Tour and the first at 17 in a while.
The ace turned Garcia’s day.
He would go on to make a nice par save at the 18th and post 73.
His finish cut Scott by six shots and it helped ease Garcia’s Masters hangover.
