Garcia's hiatus: 'I need to miss the game'

Eleven years ago this week, Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia established themselves as the future of golf, two of its youngest players also two of its most talented and entertaining.

Woods, then 23, won the PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club by a stroke over Garcia, then 19. In the ensuing decade, Woods delivered on his promise, at least until his world came crashing down late last year. Garcia, meanwhile, has devolved into an enigma, one who has announced that he would take a two-month break after the PGA Championship.

"It's been a long year," he said. "I haven't had a nice, long break my whole career. I need the break, I need to miss the game a little bit."

A little more than a year ago, Garcia, 30, was ranked No. 2 in the world. Today, he's ranked 50th. He hasn't won in nearly two years and in 2010 has had only a single top 10 in 14 starts on the PGA Tour. He's never won a major.

Maybe his hiatus will help him find a solution. In the mean time, he remains a puzzle.

-- John Strege