Sergio Garcia conducted a pre-Masters conference call from a hospital on Tuesday after his wife’s water broke. On Wednesday, the defending champ paid tribute to the tournament with the birth of the couple’s first child.
Azalea Garcia was welcomed into the world early in the morning – the lovely first name, of course, honouring the pretty plants for which Augusta National is renowned. Here’s the first photo shared by her proud daddy:
https://twitter.com/TheSergioGarcia/status/973921192208936962
First off, congrats to Sergio and Angela. The name shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise considering the couple’s Masters-themed baby reveal. And last year’s tournament also seemed to swing in Sergio’s favour on the 13th hole, which is also named Azalea. But still, this is quite a turnaround for a man who used to not be a big fan of the Masters venue.
“I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s fair,” Garcia said following the final round in 2009. “It’s too tricky . . . you get mud balls in the middle of the fairways.” Asked how he’d change it, Garcia replied, “I don’t care, they can do whatever they want. It’s not my problem. I just come here and play then go home.”
Ouch.
“Well, obviously it’s not my most favourite place,” Garcia said in 2013, “but you know, we try to enjoy it as much as we can each time we come here.”
He’ll enjoy it more than ever this year. After winning his first major there in 2017, Garcia has developed quite a case of green jacket fever, even wearing it to his wedding reception last summer. And now he’ll return to Augusta to host the Masters Champions Dinner. His fellow green jacket winners should expect to eat some great Spanish cuisine – and to see plenty of baby photos.
