Feeling like he finally belongs

Sergio Garcia was a brash 19-year-old Spaniard when he burst on to the golf scene, trading blows with Tiger Woods at the 1999 PGA Championship.

At 37, which doesn't qualify him for AARP junk mail, he is viewed as a sympathetic figure.

The final round of his 74th major came Sunday, and the Augusta National patrons were actually cheering him.

Garcia and Justin Rose, teammates on Europe's Ryder Cup side and good friends, put on a show for the ages Sunday at the Masters.

The game has become global enough that U.S. fans can root for players outside their borders.

When it was over and he realized he was going to be fitted for a green jacket, he crouched and pounded his fist into the 18th green.

Garcia is the third Spaniard to win the Masters, and the other two — the late Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal — each did it twice.

"To do it on his 60th birthday and to join him and Olazabal, my two idols in golf my whole life, it's something amazing," Garcia said.