Given that he’s conjured up a variety of ways to lose a major championship down the season, watching Sergio Garcia tease and torment us at the Masters on Sunday almost had to be done with hands over the eyes. The whole production should come with a parental guidance advisory from the Board of Film Classification.

This was quite a script and one even the late great Seve, with all his guts, panache and daring sense of adventure, may have thought a tad fanciful. They’ll be re-running this particular film reel for a while.

“This is something I wanted to do for a long time but, you know, it never felt like a horror movie,” said Garcia in the triumphant aftermath of his play-off victory over Justin Rose at Augusta National on the day that his idol and inspiration would’ve turned 60. “It felt like a little bit of a drama maybe, but obviously with a happy ending.”

In 73 majors, Garcia had racked up 22 top-10s, 12 top-fives, six top-threes and four second places. He’s had more positions than the index of the Kama Sutra but he had never managed to manoeuvre himself into the one that mattered. In his 74th appearance in a golfing grand slam event, the Spaniard finally got the numbers to add up.

After he’d curled in his final putt on the 18th to finish with a flourish in the sudden-death shoot-out, Garcia crouched to the ground and punched the manicured turf with delight. He probably got a reprimand from the Augusta head of greenkeeping but this was a release of all the frustrations that had gone before.

“It was just a lot of things going on through my mind,” he said. “Some of the moments I've had here at Augusta that maybe I haven't enjoyed as much and how stupid I really was trying to fight against something that you can't fight. I was proud of how I accepted things. And this week, I've done it better than I've ever had.”

There was quite a lot to accept during a tumultuous final round off ebbs, flows and swings. The fortunes fluctuated so wildly, it was like watching a sock birl around in the washing machine. It looked like Garcia would be hung out to dry on the 13th when he pulled his drive into a bush and had to take an unplayable. But he conjured one of the great par saves there and followed it up with a terrific approach at 14 to set up a birdie. When he flung an 8-iron straight at the pin on the 15th and holed the putt of 15-feet for eagle, the statement of intent was quite clear. For once, he was not going to let this one slip from his grasp even though there would be more anguish-laden moments to endure before victory was finally confirmed.

It was a career-changing win but a success that won’t change Garcia. “I'm very happy but I don't feel any different,” he said. “I'm thrilled but I'm still the same goofy guy. I think the problem is, because where my head was at sometimes, I did thin, am I ever going to win one? I've had so many good chances and either I lost them or someone has done something extraordinary to beat me. So it did cross my mind.”

That dreaded tag, “the best player never to win a major” has now been brushed off his lapels. “It’s always nice to be recognised or seen as the best player to not have won a major, because at least they say ‘best player; there's a good thing there,” he said with a smile. “But I don't have to answer that anymore. I don't know now if I'll be the best player to have only won one major. But I can live with that.”

Positive thinking has been a key weapon in the armoury as has the calming influence of his fiancée, Angela Akins. Channelling the spirit of Seve and drawing on the supportive pearls of wisdom of his other Masters-winning compatriot, Jose Maria Olazabal, also aided the Garcia cause. At just 37, it seems there’s plenty more to come.

"Everybody that is around me is helping me, making me not only a better golfer but a better person," Garcia said. "It's not easy, because I know how much of a hard-headed man I can be sometimes, but it's been great. And for me, the most positive thing is that I feel like I have so much room for improvement. Obviously I'm 37. I'm not 22 or 25 any more, but I feel I still have a lot of great years in me and I'm excited for those."