SERGIO GARCIA said he won like the late Seve Ballesteros after capturing his ninth PGA Tour title to tie the Spanish legend’s record.
Garcia defeated Brooks Koepka on the first play-off hole after the American hit his tee shot into the water.
It could have been a very different outcome after Garcia himself twice found the drink on the back nine.
But his sudden-death par gave him his first win on American soil in four years and a second in this event following his 2004 triumph.
Garcia said: “It’s awesome. To be up there with Seve means the world to me and you can say I won like Seve.
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“I definitely wasn’t driving the ball great until the end and there were a couple of iron shots here and there – but I was chipping and putting great.
“Some of his wins were like that and I’m very proud.”
Garcia, whose win puts his name back in the reckoning for a spot in Darren Clarke’s Ryder Cup team, shot a closing two-under-par 68 to tie Koepka on 15-under overall.
El Nino, 36, has missed just one of the biennial clashes against America since 1999.
Garcia’s poor form leading up to the 2010 showdown at Celtic Manor meant he was not picked for Colin Montgomerie’s side.
But with five overall victories to his name he brings a wealth of experience and is in with a shout of representing Europe at Hazeltine, US, in September.
Meanwhile, two-time Major champion Jordan Spieth started the final round two off the lead but crumbled with a four-over-par 74.
And while it was not as disastrous as his Masters collapse, Spieth admitted the shoddy round “stank”.
He said: “It was an off round. I didn’t get anything going and it kind of stinks given I had a chance at a home town event.”