The 2017 Masters champ announced the birth of Enzo Akins Garcia on Friday, or what would have been the second round of this year’s postponed tournament at Augusta National. That could have been a tough scheduling call for 40-year-old. Anyway, here’s a photo of the happy foursome, including the cute baby boy:

Happy Easter to everyone! We’re blessed to have welcomed Enzo Akins Garcia on Friday, April 10, at 6:25 pm. Enzo and Angela are both doing great, and Azalea is very happy to be a big sister! Hope you all have enjoyed Easter (and Masters) Sunday. God bless from our family to yours pic.twitter.com/ipjLtv9SnL

— Sergio Garcia (@TheSergioGarcia) April 13, 2020

Sergio and Angela had their first child in March of 2018, just 11 months after the Spaniard won his first major in a playoff against Justin Rose. Azalea was the name given to the baby girl, a tribute to the tournament and Augusta National’s fabled 13th hole of the same name.

This year’s Masters has been tentatively rescheduled for the week of Nov. 9. And Garcia is already looking forward to being there—and having his newest fan on hand.

Missing the tradition of the Par 3 contest this year, but the positive is that we’ll have another caddy with us in November @TheMasters! pic.twitter.com/9i2iLNBY3z

— Sergio Garcia (@TheSergioGarcia) April 8, 2020

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By Alex Myers
Sergio Garcia made for an interesting side plot as perhaps the most questionable participant entering the 2018 Ryder Cup. By week’s end, he’d cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players in the history of the biennial event.

After a disappointing year — really, a disappointing year and a half following his 2017 Masters victory — the Spaniard was considered a risky captain’s pick by Thomas Bjorn. But with a Sunday singles victory over Rickie Fowler, Garcia capped a 3-1 week in which he was a key cog to Europe’s sixth consecutive victory on home soil. And in the process, he also became the all-time Ryder Cup points leader.

“Yeah, I don’t usually cry, but I couldn’t help it,” Garcia said following his 2-and-1 win in Sunday’s eighth match. “What a week. It’s been a rough year, but you know, we fought hard. Obviously so thankful for Thomas to pick me and believe in me, and you know, so happy, so happy to get the Cup back here in Paris and in Europe and for everyone to enjoy it as much as they did.”

Watch the emotional moment that included a long embrace with both Fowler and Garcia’s wife, Angela Akins:

The moment @TheSergioGarcia became the all-time leading point scorer in #RyderCup history!#TeamEurope pic.twitter.com/YlfIylYg2V

— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 30, 2018

With the win, Garcia pushed his career Ryder Cup record to a sparkling 22-12-7 in nine appearances. The 25.5 total points passed the previous record long held by Nick Faldo, who was 23-19-4 in 11 Ryder Cups for Europe.

Ironically, it was Faldo who captained Garcia in 2008 and who referred to him as “useless” that year during NBC’s broadcast of the 2014 Ryder Cup. Following his match — and Europe’s win — Garcia wasn’t specifically asked about knocking Faldo from the record book, but there will be celebratory a Team Europe winning press conference after plenty of celebratory champagne, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here’s what Garcia said about establishing the new mark.

“Yeah, it means a lot but at the end of the day, I’ve always said it. It’s about the team and I’m happy that I was able to help,” said Garcia, who at 38, likely isn’t done adding to his Ryder Cup record. “I’m happy that I was able to help with some of the points. It’s a bonus. It’s something that I never thought I would have the possibility of doing it, and now that it’s happened, you know, I’m just so happy. I mean, these guys are unbelievable.”

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By Christopher Powers
If Sergio Garcia’s performance at the 2017 Masters wasn’t enough proof he can handle pressure-packed situations, this story should do the trick.

On Tuesday morning, Garcia was scheduled for a pre-Masters conference call as the defending champion. It just so happens Garcia’s wife, Angela Akins, was also “scheduled” to give birth to their child later this week. Instead, Akins went into labor this morning, a situation that would likely put Garcia’s conference call on hold. Only it didn’t, and Garcia stayed on the call at a hospital in Austin, Texas, where the couple lives.

Sergio Garcia is on a Masters teleconference––from the hospital. His pregnant wife’s water just broke.

— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) March 13, 2018

Defending champion @TheSergioGarcia announces on conference call to preview @TheMasters that his wife Angela has gone into hospital to give birth to their first child and he’s calling from hospital!

— Phil Casey (@pcaseysafc) March 13, 2018

According to Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski, Garcia did the call from Angela’s hospital room, even stopping to talk to her at one point. That’s some fine multitasking from the Spaniard, who is set to become a father at the age of 38, although the baby is not yet born. But for now, an early congrats to the couple, whose busy month leading into the Masters just got a whole lot busier.

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By Ryan Herrington

As if 2017 wasn’t already a magical year for Sergio Garcia—having won his elusive first major-championship title at the Masters in April and tying the knot with fiancée Angela Akins in July—it appears to only be getting better for the 37-year-old Spaniard. Check out the news that he and his bride each revealed simultaneously on Instagram earlier Wednesday:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaHd_vXjc6A/

Kudos to the couple for the creativity in their baby announcement. (Of course, with a green-jacket wedding, should we have expected any different?) With no mention of boy or girl, we can only guess that an equally colorful gender reveal could come in the not-to-distant future. (Sergio, can always contact Dustin Johnson or Keegan Bradley for pointers.)

The other key information that Akins shared: the baby is due in March. Now that’s smart planning by the Garcias. The new addition should arrive with time to spare before Sergio must depart for Augusta National to defend his Masters title in April.

The expectant father is playing this week at the European Tour’s Italian Open in Milan.

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By Alex Myers

Sergio Garcia is playing in his 19th PGA Championship this week, but it’s his first as a major champ. And his first major as a married man. So not surprisingly, the first question to Sergio at his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday was about his recent wedding. Although, asking about Kenny G, who performed at the reception, was pretty specific.

In any event, Sergio G wasn’t in the mood to talk about Kenny G or provide any details about tying the knot in Texas with Angela Akins. Here was how the exchange went down.

Q. Obviously you could have chosen any entertainment for your wedding reception. What was it that made you land on Kenny G? And other than actually getting married, what are some other things that stood out to you from the wedding day that were highlights that you’ll never forget?

SERGIO GARCIA: Yeah, we’re here at a golf tournament. We’re not going to start talking about the wedding and everything that went on it.

It was a great day. We really, really enjoyed it. Angela and the wedding planner did an amazing job, and we all really, really enjoyed it. We had a lot of good friends there and family, and it was a wonderful day and, you know, we’ll cherish it for the rest of our lives.

But we’re here to play golf.

O. . . K then. It looks like we’re getting Serious Sergio in Charlotte this week.

And it sounds like Angela gets credit for booking Kenny G. Well done, Angela. We will be sure to direct any future Kenny G-wedding questions your way.

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The opening line of questioning was the same for Sergio Garcia as it had been at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in the New Year.

With your wedding coming up El Niño, is there any chance you might have nervously taken your eyes off the big prize at Royal Birkdale by any chance?

As it was in February, the 37-year-old shrugged off the whacky assumption that tying the knot with former Golf Channel reporter Angela Akins next week might somehow rob him of his golf mojo on the eve of the 146th Open Championship.

“No, [my mind] it’s on The Open, don’t worry,” Garcia ensured his friends in the media. “It’s going to be where it has to be this week. Angela has been doing a great job of getting everything ready for the wedding.

“Obviously we’re really excited for next week. But we have something that we’re also extremely excited about this week, and we want to be here giving everything we have and hopefully, like I said before, with a chance on Sunday, it would be great.”

History will show that Garcia also brushed off the prying relationship questions in Dubai, coolly holding off the Iceman, Henrik Stenson, to win the Desert Classic by three shots. By April, he was Masters champion and there seems now no reason why he can’t add a Claret Jug to his Green Jacket.

RELATED CONTENT: Sergio seals wire-to-wire Desert Classic victory

This will be the Spaniard’s 21st Open, his third on the famed Southport links and he comes into the week having not missed a cut all year and finishing second in his last start at the BMW International Open in Germany.

So, does winning the Masters make it that little bit easier to claim golf’s oldest major trophy?

“I don’t know, they’re all kind of – I don’t know how you say it – rhetorical questions. It’s difficult to say because obviously winning the Masters was amazing and it does give you a little bit of extra confidence, and I’ve been having a very solid year. So all of those things are great. But every week is different, and you don’t know how you’re going to feel when you go out there on the course.

“So obviously I am excited about it. I am confident about my possibilities, but I can’t tell you if I’m going to be right up there on Sunday with a chance. I’m hoping that I will be but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that every week.”

Okay then, which would you cherish more, the sports coat or the Claret Jug?

“At the moment the Green Jacket means more, because I have it, but everybody knows how much I love The Open Championship. And I would love to at least have one of them before I kind of hang up the boots.

“So definitely it’s something that I would like to achieve. And we’re going to give it a shot this week. But that’s like saying, who do you love more, your dad or your mom? So it’s a difficult question to answer.”

Garcia has 10 top 10 finishes in The Open and has placed no worse than T6 in the past three years. That included a runner-up medal at Royal Liverpool to Rory McIlroy in 2014, his second near miss after losing a four-hole playoff to Padraig Harrington at Carnoustie in 2007.

“I‘ve always said that one of the things that — obviously loving the tournament, itself, and I get so pumped up with the crowds and the kind of golf we have to play here, it obviously helps out. That consistency is one of my greatest attributes throughout my career. Of course I could have won more, but I think the consistency I’ve had for the last 18 or 19 years, is not that easy to do. And I think some people overlook that.

“So that’s pretty much [what Garcia is looking for], more of the same that I’ve been able to do in a lot of majors and at The Open. Hopefully I can make that even better this week.

“I think Birkdale, it’s a great golf course. I think it’s a tough — probably one of the toughest, other than Carnoustie and maybe Muirfield, one of the toughest Open venues we play.

“So obviously all depending on weather. But it is a solid golf course and I’ve managed to play the ’98 and 2008, I think it was. So it is a golf course that I like. But we’ll see how it plays throughout the week.” — Kent Gray travelled to The Open with Etihad Airways

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A more positive attitude on the golf course. A more mature outlook on life. His fiancee. His fiancee’s family. All were mentioned as possible reasons why Sergio Garcia finally broke through to win his first major at the 2017 Masters. But it seems like we missed the obvious factor.

Garcia has a good luck charm.

It’s tiny and furry like a rabbit’s foot, but it’s a pet dog named “Bear.” The black Pomeranian was in Augusta for Garcia’s major victory, but it gets better. The only other tournament Bear has traveled to was last year’s Byron Nelson. Sergio won that event also.

Yep, Bear is undefeated.

Good luck charm?

Sergio's dog, Bear, has traveled to two tournaments.

Sergio is 2-0 at those events, the Byron Nelson and the Masters. pic.twitter.com/srUQ3H1zgk

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 11, 2017

So enjoy the victory, Bear, but get ready to pack your bags again. Something tells us you’ll be making a trip to Wisconsin in June.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — At his winning press conference, Sergio Garcia made it sound like capturing a first major championship isn’t going to change his life. But it just might change what he wears to his wedding.

Garcia got engaged to former college golfer and Golf Channel reporter Angela Akins on Jan. 6. And he didn’t totally rule out the possibility of wearing his new green jacket when the couple ties the knot.

“We were just talking about it,” Garcia said with a chuckle after being asked if he would ask for permission to wear the jacket during the ceremony, which is scheduled for July. “This one is a little bit too big (laughter). It would be nice, but no — I don’t know. We’ll get to the point when we get there.”

A Masters champ is allowed to take his green jacket off Augusta National grounds during the 12 months following his victory. We’ve seen Bubba Watson wear his to a Waffle House, Phil Mickelson to a Krispy Kreme, and Danny Willett to Wimbledon last year — but we’re pretty sure a Masters champ has never worn one to his own wedding.

So if Garcia really wants to wear his green jacket to his wedding, his timing for winning couldn’t have been better. But yeah, there’s still the whole needing to get permission from his fiancee angle.

And that — especially if green doesn’t go with the rest of the reception’s color scheme — could be the trickiest part. Good luck, Sergio.

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Does the will to win still flicker within, Sergio, or are you ready to ease into a life of wedded bliss with former Golf Channel reporter Angela Akins? The Spaniard, starting his 19th European Tour season, saved his best response for the opening round of the Desert Swing decider Thursday.

A fine seven-under 65 will see the 37-year-old take a one-stroke lead over Chilean Felipe Aguilar and South African George Coetzee into Friday’s second round. It seems the fire is burning just fine.

“The passion, it’s always there, and it’s easy to keep up,” he said. “You know, doing what we love and being as blessed as we are, being able to do it fairly well, it’s a great thing. So obviously the passion is easy to maintain.”

Former Golf Channel reporter Angela Akins watching Garcia during last year’s Ryder Cup – Getty Images

Garcia certainly did it well Thursday. Taking advantage of the calmer morning conditions, the winner of 11 European and nine PGA Tour titles mixed six birdies and an eagle three on the 3rd with a solitary bogey on his penultimate hole, the testy par 4 8th.

“Obviously it was a nice way to start. A good, solid round,” he said.

“It was getting a little bit tasty there at the end, the last five, six holes [as the wind whipped up]. So it was nice to be able to get it in on a good score. Tomorrow is supposed to be a tough day, so we’ll see.”

Garcia has pedigree in the desert after capturing the 2014 Qatar Masters but missed the cut the last time he played Dubai in 2015 and has not recorded a top-10 finish in seven starts at Emirates Golf Club. He looks set to put that right although a sand storm forecast Friday will make life tricky for everyone if
it eventuates.

Garcia, Henrik Stenson (68) and Tyrrell Hatton (72) are off the 1st at 12.25pm Friday, 10 minutes before Tiger Woods who needs an epic comeback within his comeback from injury after slumping to a 77 Friday, the worst of his 29 career loops of the Majlis. Hold onto your hats, perhaps literally.

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