The European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn feared that Sergio Garcia may never have won a major had he suffered yet another near-miss at the Masters tournament.

Garcia claimed a first major success at the 74th attempt, defeating Ryder Cup team mate Justin Rose on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off at Augusta after the pair had finished their final rounds level at nine under for the tournament.

Garcia saw a three-shot lead turn into a two-stroke deficit during a thrilling final round which swung in favour of the Spaniard and then back to Rose.

Garcia missed a birdie putt for victory at the final hole but made amends when the players returned to the 18th tee.

It was a victory that was popular among the golfing world. Garcia finally ended a run of 22 major top-10s without a victory, and Bjorn was delighted to see the 37-year-old finally achieve success in one of the majors. He tweeted immediately after the 37-year old Spaniard triumphed: "nobody deserves this more."

Garcia had narrowly lost the 1999 PGA to Tiger Woods by one shot; the 2002 US Open to Woods; the 2007 Open to rival Padraig Harrington on a play-off; the 2008 PGA to Harrington (where he made two bogeys on the final three holes),and the 2014 Open to Rory McIlroy by two shots.

Bjorn told Sky Sports: "He had most of the golfing world, certainly on this side of the Atlantic, in tears on Sunday.

"It was a fantastic moment for him, and obviously the way they played, the two of them coming down the stretch was magnificent.

"He has wanted and deserved that for so many years. I remember when he came out in the late 90s as this young kid and everyone thought he was going to have double-figure majors the way he played.

"To be honest, it was probably a question of if it didn't happen this Sunday, when he got into position, it was going to be difficult to see him win one (major).

"So I'm totally delighted for him, like everybody is. It was magnificent."