On Friday evening of Masters week, Sergio Garcia -- a man with an 0-for-73 career record at major championships -- insisted that winning the tournament two days later wouldn't change his life.
"I feel so fortunate that I've been able to be healthy, that I've been able to play so many majors in a row," he said in part. "That, for me, is already a win."
Maybe that was a coy bit of reverse psychology. Maybe he really believed that. Maybe it was a little of both. After all, that's what professional golfers are supposed to say when in pursuit of an elusive title. Anything else would leave them open to criticism for everything from putting too much pressure on themselves to sounding too cocky.
Let's face it, though: As Tiger Woods said so frequently that it became a marketing slogan, "Winning takes care of everything."
Therein lies intrinsic beauty within the game, especially at its most elite level.
If a professional baseball player enjoys a considerably successful week, he simply tries to keep it going; if a basketball player improves upon his usual baseline numbers, he'll do the same. Sure, their overall value might increase, leading to bigger and better residuals down the line, but their lives won't immediately change for the better.
Even though Garcia contested that winning the Masters wouldn't change him, he'd undoubtedly agree that traipsing around the globe is always more fun while draped in a green jacket.
The truth is, each of the past three PGA Tour victories haven't just been gratifying stories or popular winners. They've all served as life-changing events for the guy left holding the trophy on Sunday.
One week after Garcia slayed the monkey that climbed on his back nearly two decades ago, Wesley Bryan earned a quite different victory of his own. Fifteen months earlier, Bryan hadn't even posted a fraction of a world ranking point. He embarked upon his maiden season on the developmental Web.com Tour as a trick-shot artist with a spotty record on the mini-tours.
Then, something clicked. He claimed three wins on that circuit, vaulting his way onto the PGA Tour for the first time. And in just his 18th career start on the game's highest level, he won the RBC Heritage, becoming the first South Carolina native to win the home state event in its 49-year history.
"Starting this year, I knew that I was good enough to compete out here on this level, because I'd gotten in contention a couple of times," he explained afterward. "I knew that my game was good enough to win. And just to be able to come out here and show it for four days and the last couple of holes is something you can only dream of, honestly."
Bryan is now ranked 38th in the world. He will soon compete in major championships and WGCs against the game's biggest names. His win surely didn't change who he is, but it did change his life.
The same can be said for the most recent winner, too.
Kevin Chappell had competed in 179 career PGA Tour events without a victory prior to this week. He had agonizingly finished in second place on six of those occasions, each time coming just a whisker shy of the intended goal.
How much did capturing the Valero Texas Open on Sunday mean to him? After the win, he said, "Just a big relief for me. I don't have to answer that question anymore. Feel like I have a base to kind of jump off from with my career moving forward."
The reality is, Chappell didn't even need to say those words. The emotion after his final putt dropped spoke volumes, as he pumped his fist and bear-hugged his caddie and wailed a primal scream.
His life has now changed, from perhaps the best player without a victory to one who now knows he can win on this level.
Three weeks. Three winners who haven't just picked up a trophy, smiled for the cameras and headed home. No, these were momentous titles, the kind that can change lives for the better.
One week doesn't have that direct correlation in most other sports. It does in golf, though, just another beauty of the game at its highest level.