He’s a sportswriter’s dream. And a sports psychologist’s worst nightmare.

A year ago at the Masters, Sergio Garcia waved the white flag after a third-round 75, telling Spanish media: “I’m not good enough. In 13 years, I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to play for second or third place.”

And not just at Augusta National.

“In any major,” he said.

If that wasn’t startling enough, he backed it up after a final-round 71, saying, “Do you think I lie when I talk?”

No, but Garcia fans must cry when he does.

In 2009, as the world’s third-ranked player, he admitted he didn’t like Augusta National one bit.

“I don’t think it’s fair, and it’s just too tricky. Even when it’s dry, you still get mud balls in the middle of the fairway. … They can do whatever. It is not my problem. I just come here, play golf and go home.”

Fast forward to Thursday’s first round of the Masters and the man who dissed Augusta National and said he’s missing a winning ingredient did everything right.

He shot a six-under 66 to tie his all-time Masters best and played 18 bogey-free holes for the first time at Augusta since 2002 to take the joint first-round lead with Australian Marc Leishman.

The 33-year-old has only ever recorded two top-10s since he first played the famous Georgia layout in 1999.

“It’s obviously not my favorite – my most favorite – place, but we try to enjoy it as much as we can when we come here,” he said. “Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.”

Enjoy it while it lasts?

Garcia either has a delightfully sarcastic sense of humour, or he is predicting his own demise.

“Those were my words,” he said of his “play for second or third place” line in 2012.

“We go through tough and frustrating moments. Maybe I didn’t say it the right way. But what I felt on that Saturday, the way I shot myself out of the tournament, I wasn’t wrong there. Every time I tee it off, I hope that my best is really, really good.”

Garcia kicked Thursday off with an impressive two-foot approach on the first hole and made downhill birdie putts on holes six, nine and 10.

“He played lovely, especially early on,” his Australian playing partner and friend Adam Scott said.

Asked about Garcia’s “white flag” comments, Scott said it was a reaction through the frustration and disappointment of a poor week.

“He wears his heart on his sleeve, but I don’t think he lives by that motto,” he said.

The question remains: is a player who is 0-for-57 in majors “good enough” to do it again on Friday?