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Jordan Spieth revealed he was delighted that Sergio Garcia was able to shut down his ‘haters’ by winning The Masters.
The 23-year-old, who was only two shots off the lead after 54 holes before falling away in the final round, has experienced first-hand the abuse Garcia has received over in the States.
He heard shouts of ‘zero majors’ at the Ryder Cup and also unsavoury comments at the 2016 PGA Championship and now hopes that, with his Green Jacket, it will prevent any further abuse.
“It’s got to be an incredible feeling for Sergio,” said Spieth. “I shot him a text as well as probably 250 other people, just saying, ‘Welcome to the Masters club and proud to have a great champion in our locker room’.
“For all the stuff that’s been shouted his way over the years, there’s a lot of haters that were put down with that win, and that’s not why we do what we do, but it’s kind of nice to have that, I’m sure, from his perspective.
“I played with him at the PGA last year and we heard it [shouts of ‘zero majors’] there, too. If you look at other sports, you go into an away arena and stuff is yelled and you’re singled out. That happens in high school basketball, with my brother’s game. We’re just not used to it in golf. And it’s certainly not what you should hear in golf – but he won’t be hearing that anymore.”
Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, said there were tears in his eyes when he saw his good friend Garcia sink the winning putt against Justin Rose in the play-off at Augusta.
“I cried – it was unbelievable,” he said. “The first time I saw him was when he got into our wedding on Friday night. I gave him the biggest bear hug and said, ‘This is unbelievable!’
“Just to see what he’s been through, and his struggles, and for it to be there. I mean, I’m getting goosebumps even talking about it. Sergio is a good friend of mine, he means a lot to me. It was a great story. I don’t think it could have really went any better than it did.”
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