May 24, 2016: There is an air of destiny each time Sergio Garcia steps on the TPC Four Seasons for the AT&T Byron Nelson. It was here that he announced himself to the PGA TOUR with a brilliant 62 before going on to finish third on his debut. On Sunday, Garcia played some clutch golf to defeat Brooks Koepka in a playoff to clinch a second Nelson and his first PGA TOUR title since 2012. Victory also enabled Garcia to emulate a great Spanish hero. Garcia is tied with Seve Ballesteros for the most PGA TOUR titles by a Spaniard – claiming his ninth victory on Sunday.
Associated Press reported that Garcia was “emotional soon after he made par on the first playoff hole. He ran his fingers warmly around the Nelson figurine at the top of the trophy, before sharing a few moments with Peggy Nelson, widow to late Byron Nelson.”
“I just said thanks for everything, that it was great to see her again,” Garcia told AP. “It’s been a very emotional week and obviously Peggy finished it off by making me cry, which I didn’t think I was going to do.”
“To be up there with Seve, it means the world to me and I kind of — you can kind of say I went a little bit a la Seve today,” he said. “I definitely wasn’t driving the ball great until the end and a couple of iron shots here and there, but I was chipping and putting great. Some of his wins were like that and I’m very proud of it.”
India’s Anirban Lahiri produced a brilliant 66 to climb inside the top 50. He finished T46 with a score of 6-under 274 alongside James Hahn and Patrick Rogers.
Lahiri started his day with a birdie, but dropped a shot at the second and two more at the fourth hole. Anirban made three birdies in four holes starting with the sixth as he picked the perfect time to revive his round.
Anirban enjoyed a clean back nine that included three birdies. He finished with a flourish making birdies at the 16th and 17th holes to end an up and down week that swung one way and then the other for the Indian golfer.
“I played much better to finish the week. Made too many bogeys and just did not build on any momentum till the last few holes of the event,” Anirban told Golfing Indian. “Looking forward to this week and getting off to a more solid start.”
Anirban earned $21,267 in prize money and 24 Fedex Cup points for his efforts last week at the course in Irving, Texas. Local hero Jordan Spieth suffered a painful final round, bleeding six bogeys. He dropped 16 spots to end the week in T18.
“Just didn’t really get anything going and kind of stinks, given I had a chance here at a hometown event,” Spieth said.
Koepka endured three bogeys including two of them back to back on the second nine. He also failed to produce a single birdie on his way to the clubhouse to fall into a playoff with Garcia.
“I really didn’t have much the last 36 holes,” said a disappointed Koepka. “I had no idea where the ball was going.”
