Last year's FootballEE of the Year Lee Keegan has cited Masters champion Sergio Garcia as a sporting example for Mayo, saying that they must "keep banging on the door".

Garcia finally won his first golfing major at the 75th attempt on Sunday when he defeated Justin Rose in a play-off at Augusta to land the famous green jacket.

Keegan, who has been on the losing side for Mayo in three All-Ireland finals, earned his first Celtic Cross with his native Westport in February and is hoping the experience will stand to him heading into this summer's championship.

"The way I look at it, there is no point limiting yourself," Keegan told Newstalk's Off The Ball programme yesterday.

"People say Dublin are this and that, and I always reference them as one of the best teams I've ever seen play, and rightly so. What they've done in the modern era is sensational. But they are beatable, and that's the reality. I think Mayo know that, and we are trying to fill a gap of a one or two per cent so that we can do that.

"We have to keep banging on the door to create history and get over the line. Sergio Garcia, it took him 75 attempts to win a major, but he kept going on to do it. A lot of failures on the way, but it's going to happen eventually. That's my philosophy that I've taken from Westport, because we were written off in so many games.

"It was a dream at the start, but then reality kicked in as we got closer and closer. Westport was a bit different: we got one chance and we took it, with Mayo, it's going to take a few more chances possibly."

Tweet

Most Read Stories