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Written by Bryan Spitzer
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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
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 "El nino" ( Sergio Garcia) in true champion fashion broke his three year drought with a win at the Players on Sunday. Sergio, who for the past few years has been the hot topic of conversation for what went wrong over the weekend and even during one strecth many media outlets were replaying his weekly putting woes during highlight and recap shows. With his performance this past weekend, many of those reels will be put to rest and perhaps Garcia has found his stroke of old that went toe to toe with Tiger at Medinah ('99 PGA) as the two electrified the crowds on the back nine draining birdie after birdie.
Does this victory mean he's back? That may very well be the case as Garcia is and has been for some time now arguably the best ball striker on tour, and his tee to green play proved that once again, He was 1st in fairways at the players hitting 43/56 - 76.8% (even with 30-40mph gusts) on a golf course whose avg fairway width is little more than a typical US open setup and 1st in GIR at 77.8.
The above numbers are not that surprising for Garcia' pedigree however this set is: Sergio was T39 in putting with 124 putts (31 AVG per round), Thursday and Sunday rounds with less than 30 putts, 29 and 28, respectively. Contrasting with his putting stats thus far in 2008 Garcia ranks 121st and 168th in putts per round, his ball striking numbers are errily similar as they should be.
Another change Sergio made this week was reviving a old putter, the putter that put him on the map in 1999-2000. He shyed away from the mallet heads and newer putting technologies that mostly look and feel like an anvil attached to a piece of steel for a more conventional look. One that he can swing freely through the ball and allow the putter head to release, especially on those less than 10 foot putts which have cost him Major opportunities in the past. Additionaly, Garcia as he already has previously in the year is singing the praises of Stan Utley, who admitedly calls himself Garcia's "encourager" and the man most responsible for Sergio's recent mental successes.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 May 2008 )
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