When Sergio Garcia beat Justin Rose and, ultimately, himself, at Augusta last Sunday night, to end a career-long major drought, thousands turned on a sixpence to train their focus on the west of Ireland.
Sergio winning the masters.... surely Mayo for Sam now.
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) April 9, 2017
Mayo's time spent apart from the All-Ireland ticked into a sixty-sixth year in January, with the most recent miss bringing the most anguish: a one-point defeat to Dublin in a replay.
But Mayo know better than most that pain is merely a form of information, and you can trust the to be back in the mix in 2017. Lee Keegan spoke to Off The Ball last night to affirm exactly that, citing the example of Sergio Garcia and, more pertinently, his experience of winning an All-Ireland club title last month.
The way I look at it, there is no point limiting yourself. People say Dublin are this and that, and I always reference them as one of the best teams I've ever seen play, and rightly so. What they've done in the modern era is sensational. But they are beatable, and that's the reality. I think Mayo know that, and we are trying to fill a gap of a one or two percent so that we can do that.
We have to keep banging on the door to create history and get over the line. Sergio Garcia, it took him 75 attempts to win a major, but he kept going to do it. A lot of failures on the way, but it's going to happen eventually.
That's my philosophy that I've taken from Westport, because we were written off in so many games. It was a dream at the start, but then reality kicked in as we got closer and closer. Westport was a bit different: we got one chance and we took it, with Mayo, it's going to take a few more chances possibly.
Keegan was also asked about Eamon Fitzmaurice's comments last week, in which there was a campaign against Keegan orchestrated by ex-Dublin players in the media.
It's a totally personal thing, Eamon Fitz wanted to back up his players and put his stamp on the final. For me personally, it didn't have any effect or impact on me.
You can listen to the full interview back on the Newstalk website.
