Garcia: Will he ever get his major?
Next up is on the major rota Southern Hills and for Sergio Garcia that brings back more bad memories. One shot back going into the final round of the U.S. Open, Garcia made six bogeys and a double bogey to shoot 77 to tumble into a tie for 12th while playing partner Mark Brooks went on to face Retief Goosen in a playoff.
Counting Carnoustie, it was one of five solid chances that Garcia has encountered in major championships, two of those in the final group on Sunday with Tiger Woods. He is 0-for-36 going into the PGA Championship, a record that will wear on him with each trip to a media center.
"It's a cliche to say Sergio's young, he will win majors, but the longer it takes, the tougher it gets," Harrington said. "It's harder for him to enjoy a major week because there's a huge spotlight on him. Once he's gets into contention, it's incredible the focus that's going to be on him."
To his critics, Garcia gives new material with almost every sound bite. His post-round news conference at Carnoustie was not a display of good sportsmanship or eye contact. Head down and defensive to begin with, his opening comments included the reference to a 15-minute wait on the 18th fairway and an observation that, "I should write a book on how to not miss a shot in the playoff and shoot 1-over. It's the way it is. I guess it's not news in my life."
The self-pity was pitiful, never mind that it wasn't close to 15 minutes before he hit that 3-iron or that he fatted a wedge into the first playoff hole and made bogey from the front bunker. The reaction was classic Sergio. But the golf, for the most part, represented a new side of the Spaniard.
The belly putter gives him more room for error, and other than a shaky three-hole spurt on the front nine, where he dropped three strokes in four holes, this was not the Sergio who yipped his way out of crucial situations like this. He hit putts that kept burning edges, including the 10-footer on the 72nd hole for the jug.
In Europe, Garcia was given different media treatment than he has in America. Lewine Mair's final paragraph in the Monday morning Daily Telegraph ended with the thought that even the most insensitive of scribes will give Sergio a break before it starts up anew. "He has suffered enough," Mair concludes. In The Times, John Hopkins wrote in Tuesday's follow-up story that "Garcia should be given sympathy for losing out after coming so close."
Even Harrington was caught up in it. "I looked over and saw Sergio and thought, 'Oh, somebody has lost," he said Monday. "I really felt for him at that stage."
Garcia was one of the young European players targeted by Faldo in a breakfast interview with Derek Lawrenson of the Daily Mail where he questioned the heart and desire of the modern-day Euro player. The Ryder Cup captain felt the lads were too chummy, as if to suggest in retrospect that Garcia going to Luke Donald's wedding in Greece, or his bank account, had something to do with his near miss.
This was a big moment for Sergio, but there will be others. He held the lead since Thursday's 65, answered questions every day about his belly putter, and in the end, hit good putts that just didn't go in. Basically, he burned the edge of a major championship. Just remind yourself that he's 27, still with plenty of growth potential, not to mention a massive chip on his shoulder. He's overcome regripping and yips, so he'll overcome this.
As Harrington said, "He will win a number of majors."
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