It was the Sunday every fan around the world wanted, as Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia went toe to toe for the green jacket down the home stretch at Augusta National.
The match, reminiscent of the battle between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson at the Open Championship, would easily be at home in the greats of any heavyweight boxing highlights reel. It had everything, from unlikely birdies to clutch pars, to as far as rules breach scares.
But before it was Garcia vs Rose there were many others in the race on Sunday. One by one they fell by the wayside, allowing the European duo to take centre stage. First, it was Jordan Spieth, then Rickie Fowler. The young Americans unable to do what many had predicted and possibly set a low clubhouse total for the final pairing to chase.
South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel made a superbly timed run, but just couldn’t get close enough to the -8 score that held the lead for so long on Sunday afternoon. Schwartzel would birdie 18, from almost the same spot he did when he won in 2011 to secure solo third, with valuable FedExCup points as his consolation prize.
Matt Kuchar was another, as he catapulted into the script with an ace at 16. As he fell away, so too did Thomas Pieters, as he failed to get up and down from the bunker on 16, and so fade from the spotlight. The spotlight was left for only Garcia and Rose, friends for more than a decade, as they traded haymaker after haymaker.
It was Garcia who started the better. He was two under for the day after three holes, but as soon as his putter went to sleep, Rose sparked into life. The Englishman made bogey on 5, but then rattled off three birdies in a row to move ahead.
Garcia’s Sunday Major demons appeared and cost him dropped shots on 10 and 11, but just when it looked to be all over, he recovered from an errant tee shot on 13 to make an unlikely par. That par was matched by Rose, only for him it came after his second rolled over the green, and it was Garcia who took the momentum. The Spaniard made birdie on 14 before making eagle on 15 to get to -9.
Rose’s response? A clutch birdie. Game on, but not before a rules official would confirm that Garcia would not incur a penalty for a rules infraction after dropping his ball on 13 after taking his unplayable.
Garcia had the honour on 16 and hit a superb short iron to 6 feet, only for Rose to respond with an approach to 8 feet. Uphill, Rose delighted the crowd with a birdie to move to -9. Garcia’s timid slider missed, intensifying the drama.
The Englishman set up a thrilling 72nd hole when he failed to get up and down. The crowd roared with delight, not at his misfortune, but at the prospect of even more drama.
Both found the fairway, and when Rose’s approach took a delightful bounce, it heaped the pressure back on Garcia. His reply? The most exquisite wedge inside Rose’s ball.
Rose’s putt burnt the edge, leaving Garcia a five-foot putt to erase years of Major misery. He missed, sending the titanic duel into a playoff.
Rose had the honour on the tee, but failed to hit the fairway, giving Garcia a massive opening. He took it and hit his approach to 10 feet. Rose scrambled to 15 feet, but missed his par attempt, similar to the one he missed on 18 in regulation, leaving Garcia two putts for his first Major in 74 tries.
He needed only one to rid himself of the tag ‘best player with a Major win’, and on what would’ve been his icon Seve Ballesteros’ 60th birthday, to become the third Spaniard to wear the green jacket.
