Sergio Garcia's victory at the 2017 Masters, his first ever major after 73 attempts, was more a sign of his maturity as a person than anything else.
He kept his cool on the 13th when everybody, ourselves included, thought he would not be able to recover from his tee shot ending up in a bush, and he dealt with the pressure Justin Rose was putting on him like he never had before.
So what changed? According to both Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington, the role of his fiancee Angela Akins has been hugely important.
Harrington would not-so-secretly have been hoping someone other than Garcia would be in contention right up to the last hole so he would not have to deal with the awkwardness of Sky's coverage in constantly bringing up their frosty relationship, but he twice took a moment to mention how important Akins was in Garcia's game.
Once the Spaniard's win was confirmed, the two Irish golfers heaped praise on Akins for her contribution not just in the background on Sunday at Augusta, but in many ways over the past few years.
The clip of Garcia and his soon to be wife celebrating in-sync was a great Masters moment.
They are due to get married in May, safe to say 2017 will be a good year for Sergio Garcia.
Sergio and his fiancee, Angela Akins, have identical reactions to the winning putt.
Just awesome. pic.twitter.com/bVAr3zOGXJ— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 9, 2017
Angela Akins is a former employee of The Golf Channel who played golf at Collegiate level. She is a cousin of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees which is a pleasant and completely random fact.
Harrington first noted at how impressive her body language was after Sergio missed a putt to win the tournament, where she urged Garcia to power on as his body language looked a bit concerning. It was interesting to hear himself and Paul McGinley elaborate as to how she influenced his improvement, and now the world of golf can get used to seeing Sergio Garcia in a green jacket.
