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Sergio Garcia handled his epic Masters debacle like a boss

Sergio Garcia, of Spain, reacts after hitting a ball in the water on the 15th hole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament Thursday, April 5, 2018, in Augusta, Ga. Garcia shot an 8-over 13 on the hole. (AP)
Sergio Garcia, of Spain, reacts after hitting a ball in the water on the 15th hole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament Thursday, April 5, 2018, in Augusta, Ga. Garcia shot an 8-over 13 on the hole. (AP)

AUGUSTA, Ga. — How would you react if, doing your job in front of a live television audience of millions and surrounded by thousands, you absolutely crapped the bed like Sergio Garcia did Thursday?

To refresh, in Round 1 of the Masters, Garcia – the defending champ – dunked not one, not two, not three, not four, but five balls in the drink on hole 15. He wound up carding a 13, tied for the highest score ever recorded on a hole at a Masters.

That’s some hallowed ground no one wants to touch, and yet there Garcia was, standing in the middle of 15, taking it like a boss. No slammed clubs. No f-bombs. Nothing.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” he said afterward. “It’s one of those things. I feel like — I don’t know, it’s the first time in my career where I make a 13 without missing a shot. Simple as that.”

Then he went home to his wife and 1-month-old daughter, Azalea — yeah, there’s a connection — and apparently that was that about the 13.

By Friday morning, he was providing some perspective. You see, 15 (named Firethorn) is the hole that propelled him to win last year’s green jacket. It’s where he nailed the pin with his second shot, then drained the eagle putt to draw square with Justin Rose. If not for that hole — the one that treated him so cruelly Thursday — he wouldn’t have a green jacket, a single major victory, and his daughter would certainly not carry the name Azalea.

A few years ago, Sergio Garcia was a lesson in what not to do — like taking an unnecessary jab at Tiger Woods or spitting in a golf hole. Now, at 38, he’s providing a lesson on how to act. Funny what a green jacket will do.