Augusta, Ga. — At half-past 7, with the sun fading and jubilant fans chanting Ole ole ole ole, a tournament official told Sergio Garcia: “We’re heading to Butler.”
Have sweeter words ever been uttered at Augusta National?
Butler Cabin is where players go to join golf’s greatest club.
After slipping on a green jacket, the new Masters champion said, “It’s been such a long time coming.”
A prodigy in Spain, Garcia was a scratch golfer at 13. He played in the British Open at 16.
At 19 he scissor-kicked onto the American scene with an impossible, eyes-closed slash from the trunk of a tree to the right of Medinah’s 16th fairway. Such joy.
Now 37, with a receding hairline and salt-and-pepper scruff, Garcia finally is a major champion. Took him 74 tries. He beat Northwestern by five.
Asked about shedding the label as the best player without a major, Garcia replied: “The way I looked at it, at least ‘best player’ was there. Now I don’t have to answer that. Now maybe I’m the best player to win only one major.”
He smiled.
“I can live with that.”
So can everyone else. Garcia is a popular champion. As he knifed through the gallery from the ninth green to 10th tee Sunday, a 13-year-old boy hollered: “Vamos, Señor Garcia!”
A young Spaniard?
“No, I’m from Atlanta but speak some Spanish,” said Jackson Nicholson.
Said Justin Rose, whom Garcia defeated on the first playoff hole: “If there’s anyone to lose to, it would be Sergio. He has had his fair share of heartbreak.”
PGA Tour veteran Brandt Snedeker called Garcia “probably one of the most caring, fun, funny people around — when he’s not in between the ropes. And even in between the ropes he’s great — when it’s not a major. When it’s a major, he kind of gets uptight and gets in his own way.
“I feel like the game of golf will be in a better place if he wins a major instead of the other way around. He deserves to win. He is so exceptional at hitting a golf ball. His ball makes a different sound than anybody out here.”
That sweet sound contrasted with all the rubbish that has tumbled from his lips over the years.
In 2009 he whined about Augusta National, saying, “I don’t like it, to tell you the truth. I don’t think it’s fair, and it’s just too tricky. Even when it’s dry, you still get mud balls in the middle of the fairway. ... They can do whatever. It is not my problem. I just come here, play golf and go home.”
He complained about bad breaks and verbally sparred with Tiger Woods, a spat that turned ugly when Garcia made a dumb “fried chicken” joke at an awards banquet in 2013. He apologized within hours.
Garcia remains an interesting study, a self-described “hardheaded man.”
While he expressed joy regarding his breakthrough victory, he also said, “To be brutally honest, I don’t feel any different. I’m obviously thrilled with what happened here today, but I’m still the same guy, the same goofy guy … I have a beautiful life, major or no major.”
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Sergio Garcia of Spain celebrates after winning the Masters golf tournament in a playoff on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Sergio Garcia is greeted by fiancee Angela Akins after winning the Masters in a playoff.
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Justin Rose, left, congratulates Sergio Garcia on the 18th green after Garcia won the Masters on the first playoff hole.
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Danny Willett, left, the 2016 Masters champion, congratulates Sergio Garciaduring the green jacket ceremony at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Sergio Garcia get help putting on the Masters champion’s green jacket by 2016 winner Danny Willett.
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Sergio Garcia admires the winner’s trophy during the awards ceremony following his victory at the Masters.
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Sergio Garcia reacts after making an eagle putt in front of Justin Rose at No. 15e during the final round of the Master.
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Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia walk over the Hogan Bridge at No. 12 with their caddies Mark Fulcher and Glen Murray during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Justin Rose of England reacts to a putt for birdie on the sixth hole during the final round of the Masters.
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Rickie Fowler reacts after a drive on the fourth hole during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Sergio Garcia of Spain hits a drive on the fourth hole during the final round of the Masters.
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Justin Rose of England plays his shot from the third tee during the final round of the Masters.
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Paul Casey of England plays his second shot on the first hole during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Jordan Spieth plays his third shot from a bunker at No. 10 during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Adam Scott of Australia hits his tee shot at No. 4 during the final round of the Masters.
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Jimmy Walker reacts to his missed birdie putt on the sixth hole during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Sergio Garcia hits from a bunker alongside the seventh green during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lets go of his club on the follow through of his tee shot at No. 4 during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Justin Rose hits his tee shot at No. 2 during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rickie Fowler lines up his putt with caddie Joseph Skovron at No. 8 during the third round of the Masters tournament on Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Sergio Garcia celebrates after making a birdie putt at No. 6 during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Charley Hoffman hits his tee shot at No. 4 during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Jon Rahm reacts after missing his birdie putt on the 17th hole during the third round of the Masters.
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Jordan Spieth hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Justin Rose makes his club selection at the second tee box during the third round of the 2017 Masters
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Sergio Garcia reacts to a missed putt at No. 12 during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Ryan Moore plays a shot from a greenside bunker at No. 10 during the third round of the Masters.
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Fred Couples olines up a putt on the 16th green during the third round of the Masters.
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Will McGirt watches his bunker shot roll toward the hole on the 17th green during the third round of the Masters.
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Sergio Garcia pitches a shot onto the 13th green during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Jason Day on the second tee during the third round of the 2017 Masters tournament.
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Phil Mickelson plays his second shot from a bunker at the 12th hole during the third round of the Masters.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Jon Rahm of Spain walk over the Hogan Bridge at No. 12 at Augusta National Golf Club during the second round.
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Jason Day of Australia plays a shot from a greenside bunker at the 16th hole during the second round of the Masters.
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Matt Kuchar and caddie John Wood head toward the second green, where the flagstick is bowed by the wind, during the second round of the Masters.
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Fans get a close-up view of Charley Hoffman hitting an approach shot during the second round of the Masters tournament.
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Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello looks at his ball in the pine straw at the 14th hole during the second round of the Masters tournament.
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Si Woo Kim of South Korea plays his third shot at No. 15 during the second round of the Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Fred Couples reacts to his birdie putt on the 13th hole during the second round of the Masters.
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Rickie Fowler plays his tee shot at No. 12 during the second round of the Masters tournament.
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Charley Hoffman hits a drive on the 18th hole during the first round for the Masters golf tournament.
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Will McGirt hits a drive on the eighth hole during the second round of the Masters golf tournament.
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Charley Hoffman looks at his approach on the 15th hole during the first round for the Masters golf tournament .
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Justin Rose of England plays his second shot on the 17th hole during the second round of the Masters tournament.
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Charley Hoffman hits a tee shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the Masters tournament on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club. Hoffman shot a 65 to take a four-shot lead.
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Pat Perez reacts after missing a putt at No. 16 during the first round of the Masters golf tournament on Thursday.
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Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Billy Payne, right, leads a moment of silence for Arnold Palmer at the start of the Masters Tournament on Thursday.
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Jason Day plays his shot from the third tee during the first round of the 2017 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Dustin Johnson walks off after announcing his withdrawal during the first round of the 2017 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Thomas Pieters of Belgium hits a shot through the trees at the 17th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Caddie Jamie Lane lines up a putt on the second green during the first round of the 2017 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Brendan Steele walks up the second fairway during the first round of the Masters golf tournament on Thursday.
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American Dustin Johnson walks out of the Augusta National clubhouse after withdrawing from the Masters golf tournament because of a back injury before his afternoon tee time Thursday.
(Tannen Maury / EPA) And asked if he might wear the green jacket during his upcoming nuptials, he expressed a twinge of discomfort: “This one is a little bit too big.”
What fit just right was that Garcia won the Masters on what would have been the 60th birthday of Seve Ballesteros, who died in 2011 from brain cancer. He and Jose Maria Olazabal are Garcia’s idols.
“I’m sure (Ballesteros) helped a little bit with some of those shots, some of those putts,” said Garcia, whose final stroke from 12 feet on No. 18 caught juuuuuust enough of the left edge to go down, a birdie when a par would have sufficed.
Garcia embraced Rose and went to his knees to pound the Augusta National turf. He kissed fiancee Angela Akins and they walked to Butler Cabin arm in arm, in triumph.
tgreenstein@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
