Sergio Garcia, El Nino

WIKIPEDIA:

“García began playing golf at the age of three and was taught by his father, Victor. He was a star player as a junior, winning his club championship at age 12. Four years later, he set a record as the youngest player to make the cut at a European Tour event, the 1995 Turespaña Open Mediterranea. This record was broken by amateur Jason Hak in November 2008 at the UBS Hong Kong Open, beating García’s record by 107 days. Also in 1995, García became the youngest player[3] to win the European Amateur. In 1998, he won The Amateur Championship.
García turned professional in 1999 after shooting the lowest amateur score in the 1999 Masters Tournament. His first title on the European Tour came in his sixth start as a professional at the Irish Open. He first achieved worldwide prominence with a duel against Tiger Woods in the 1999 PGA Championship, where he eventually finished second. Late in the final round, García hit his most famed shot: with his ball up against a tree trunk and the green hidden from view, he swung hard with his eyes shut and hit a low curving fade that ran up onto the green. As the shot traveled, he sprinted madly into the fairway and then scissor-kick jumped to see the result. Shortly afterwards he became the youngest player ever to compete in the Ryder Cup…”

Well, I saw Sergio live when he was playing his last tournament before becoming a professional. Or something like that. It was in Barcelona. I just remember how impressed I was by “El Nino”!