Capelle On Golf

Time is passing, Tiger, Phil, and the no names are winning majors. And Sergio Garcia continues be a head case. It didn’t have to be this way if only … if only he’d won the 1999 PGA when he finished a shot behind Tiger Woods, who was trying to end an 0 for 10 major’s slump. Sergio would have broken the ice by winning his first major, which all players with multiple Big Four titles say is the toughest. And, as Jack Nicklaus has said, “Winning breeds winning,” so it might have been just the start.

If only #2…if only that par putt on the 72nd hole of last year’s British Open had lipped in instead of out. If only he’d been able to hold on to five shots of a six shot third round lead (instead of losing all six), then he’d have his long awaited major. The proverbial monkey would be off his back, and golf’s leading twentysomething might finally have emerged as the challenger we’ve been looking for.

In between these two near misses Garcia managed to finish in the top five at six majors from 2002-2006, earning him the mantle of the best player with no major titles. But now he is in danger of losing that dubious distinction. In 14 starts since the British Open, he has only three top 10s, and those came in two tournaments with small fields, while the other was at a European Tour event with a weak field.

Garcia is reputed to be one of the game’s best ball strikers, but he ranked 105th on tour last year in Greens in Regulation at 64.56%, well behind Tiger’s tour leading 71.02%. While the belly putter might help a poor putter become a good one, I can’t recall a single major where the winner used anything other than the short stick. In essence, a belly putter is an admission of poor nerve control, which is the last thing a player need in the final round of a major.

You know the old saying: what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. In Sergio’s case, it’s looking like what didn’t make him stronger has killed him. Still, he’s only 28. And, as the commentators keep reminding us now that Tiger’s 32, a golfer enters his prime in his early to mid 30s. Sergio still has time to compile a Hall of Fame resume and become a hardnosed second banana to Woods, but as time moves on, the scar tissue is growing. Will he answer the call? Or will Garcia end his career as one of golf’s tragic figures, a player who was so close, and yet so far from fulfilling his enormous potential? This is a story that bears watching.