25 Things You Didn’t Know About Sergio Garcia

Sergio Garcia is one of his era's greatest golfers, with the Spaniard winning well over 30 times around the world including at the 2017 Masters.

The Spaniard is the Ryder Cup's record points scorer and now plays in the LIV Golf League, where he is captain of the Fireballs team.

Get to know Sergio Garcia better with the 25 facts...

1. He was born in Borriol, Spain, near Castellon de la Plana which is just north of Valencia.

2. He used to occasionally turn out for Borriol FC, his hometown club, where he was formerly club president.

3. His father, Victor, a club pro, began teaching him the game at the age of 3 at the local Club de Campo del Mediterraneo.

4. He won his club championship at the age of 12.

5. He was low amateur at the 1999 Masters, and is just the fifth Masters low amateur to go on to win the Green Jacket (Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are the others).

6. Despite born in the Valencian community, Garcia is a huge Real Madrid fan.

7. He previously resided in Crans Montana, Switzerland - where the Omega European Masters is played at Crans-Sur-Sierre Golf Club - but now lives in Texas.

8. Garcia has made 10 Ryder Cup appearances and became the match's all-time point scorer in 2018 after reaching 25.5 points, overtaking Nick Faldo. He added three more points at the 2021 Cup. 

9. Prior to winning The Masters, he had 22 top 10 finishes in Majors without tasting success. His Green Jacket win came in his 74th Major start.

10. In July 2017 he got married to Angela Akins, a Texan journalist who worked for the Golf Channel. She reportedly plays off 3. They have two children together called Azalea and Enzo.

11. He was just the third Spaniard to win a Major after Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal. They were joined by Jon Rahm in 2021.

12. He once said he is not good enough to win a Major. At the 2012 Masters, after a third round of 75 he told the Spanish media: "I'm not good enough. I don't have the thing I need to have. In 13 years, I've come to the conclusion that I need to play for second or third place."

13. As well as golf and football, he is a keen poker player, having competed in PokerStars tournaments. In 2012 he won $35,000 in a tournament.

14. He is a keen tennis player and is good friends with 20-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal. He also plays a lot of tennis and golf with former tennis player Andy Roddick in Texas.

15. He is the third-youngest player to make the cut in a European Tour event at 15 years and 46 days. That was at the 1995 Turespana Open Mediterrania.

16. He won the Amateur Championship in 1998 at Muirfield, where he beat Wales' Craig Williams in the final. He also reached the US Amateur semi final in 1998.

17. He is the youngest player to have played in a Ryder Cup, having made his debut at Brookline in 1999 at the age of 19 years, 258 days.

18. At the age of 20 years, 7 days, he became the youngest golfer to reach the top-10 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

19. He has spent 18 weeks as No.2 in the Official World Golf Ranking without ever reaching the top spot.

20. Garcia was sponsored by adidas for over 20 years before they parted ways in 2023.

21. He joined LIV Golf in June 2022 and has played in every LIV Golf event. He captains the Fireballs GC team.

22. He and former Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy were previously close friends, with McIlroy being a groomsman at Sergio's wedding. They had a high-profile falling out following the inception of LIV Golf but have been on speaking terms since.

23. He has a Corgi called Spain.

24. He is third in the DP World Tour's career earnings with €30.1m.

25. He qualified for every Major from the 1999 US Open until the 2023 PGA Championship, which he failed to meet the entry requirements for. He also missed the Open Championship for the first time in 25 years in 2023.

Sergio Garcia LIV fee

Sergio Garcia joined LIV Golf in 2022 but his contract fee was not revealed. It was speculated he signed for around $35m-$40m according to media reports.

Sergio Garcia career earnings

The Spaniard is third in the DP World Tour's career money list with €30.1m. On the PGA Tour, he has earnings of $54.6m.

How far does Sergio Garcia drive the ball?

Garcia is regarded as one of the greatest ball strikers of his era. In terms of driving distance, he is considered a long hitter. In his last full season on the PGA Tour he averaged 309.4 yards to rank 10th. In the 2023 LIV Golf League he averaged 305.9 yards to finish 18th in the distance charts.

Sergio Garcia Masters win

Sergio Garcia sealed his maiden Major win in his 74th Major start at the 2017 Masters. It was an enthralling final round where he and fellow Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose went toe-to-toe.

In the end, the pair tied at nine-under-par before Garcia won with a birdie on the first playoff hole.