Garcia wins major he accepted might never come

Spaniard claims major honour for the first time in 20 years and 73 attempts

AUGUSTA: Sergio Garcia had finally accepted that he might never win a major title after 73 failed attempts, only to find a happy ending Sunday by capturing the Masters.

The 37-year-old Spaniard defeated England's Justin Rose with a birdie on the first playoff hole to claim his first major crown.

The green jacket symbolizing Masters supremacy once seemed like the last major prize Garcia would contend for, having called the Augusta National layout silly and crazy and suffered heartbreaking near-misses over two decades of trying.

"I think the problem is where my head was," Garcia said. "Sometimes I did think, 'Am I ever going to win one?' I had so many good chances and I either lost them or someone did something extraordinary to beat me. But it has happened."

Garcia, who now has a new jacket in which to marry fiancee Angela Akins later this year, found that in the achievement of a goal he chased for nearly 20 years, he didn't feel any life-changing impact.

"I don't feel very different," he said. "I'm very happy. I'm obviously thrilled about what happened here today. I'm still the same, goofy guy. That's not going to change."

The horror movie fan said he never felt like he was trapped in a real-life terror show after all his hard luck in majors.

"I have a beautiful life, major or no major. I have an amazing life," Garcia said. "I have so many people who care for me and love me and support me. It never felt like a horror movie -- like a little bit of a drama maybe, with a happy ending."

Garcia became the third Spaniard to win the Masters after his idols, the late Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, who each claimed two green jackets.

Spanish players are 3-for-3 in winning the Masters after leading through 54 holes, Olazabal doing so in 1999 and Ballesteros in 1980.