Poulter confounding the doubters while Garcia

again fails to live up to great expectations

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE
By JOHN HUGGAN
The contrast could hardly have been more marked. There they were, going head-to-head in the semi-final of last week's Accenture Match Play Championship: golf's biggest over-achiever against the current holder of the game's "most lamentable under-achiever" title. Or, put another way: Ian Poulter versus Sergio Garcia.
Just about the only thing this pair has in common is an unfortunate propensity to wear outlandishly bright-coloured clothing of rather questionable taste.
Now the first Englishman to win a World Golf Championship, Poulter, who turned professional when he was supposedly a four-handicapper at best, has forever surprised and confounded those – your correspondent included – who have doubted his ability to compete at the very highest level.
The former market trader and assistant pro at something called the "Family Golf Centre" in his hometown of Leighton Buzzard – where he earned £5.60 an hour – is your original working-class hero.
"I'm not like most guys who turn pro after playing in the Walker Cup and what have you," he points out. "Or those that come through the college system. I didn't even know those things existed. I was oblivious. I come from a very normal upbringing. I played at the local municipal. And I had to earn money. Which is why I worked on a market stall.
"My upbringing only adds to my appreciation of what I have now. It's been a great ride for me, from the pro's shop to the top-five in the world. What comes with that is a lot of money. But that can only buy you stuff. I don't rate people by how much money they make. And I would hope no one would do the same with me."
And Sergio? Well, let's just say that the former teenage prodigy – he was probably playing off four when still wearing shorts to primary school – has generally speaking failed to live up to the admittedly lofty expectations expressed by most "experts" when he left the amateur ranks just over a decade ago.
Yes, he has won a Players Championship, the so-called "fifth major", and a host of other events around the globe, but Grand Slam success has so far eluded the now 30-year-old Spaniard.
The result of last week's match, of course, was a resounding 7&6 victory for the over-achiever, the proverbial "dog licence."
Such a thrashing would normally have been bad enough as far as Garcia was concerned, but even worse was the fact that he did not appear to be trying anything like 100 per cent. Perhaps disturbed by the appalling weather – or the fact that he was being comprehensively outplayed – Garcia behaved like a spoiled and petulant brat denied immediate and unfettered access to his poke of sweeties.
This isn't the first time the former Amateur champion has, in Australian parlance, "spat the dummy" either. The mind goes back to Carnoustie and the 2007 Open when a ten-foot putt for victory kissed the edge of the 72nd cup but failed to drop.
Garcia's whining attitude in the wake of his subsequent play-off defeat by Padraig Harrington, while not as bad as portrayed by certain members of the US media, did him few favours.
Then there was the 2008 USPGA Championship at Oakland Hills, where Harrington again prevailed, this time over the regulation distance. During the closing nine holes, Garcia behaved appallingly, resorting to all kinds of immature gamesmanship in a vain attempt to get inside the likeable Irishman's head.
At one point, Harrington was compelled to ask his caddie to stand between himself and his playing companion so that he could fully focus on the shot in hand. It was a disgraceful display of bad sportsmanship, capped by a lacklustre "limp fish" handshake on the 18th green.
So perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised that Garcia, in the face of heavy and inevitable defeat to Poulter, was unable to behave himself with even a semblance of class.
His huffy attitude towards his opponent's perfectly legitimate investigation of options when in an awkward lie was especially disappointing – or put up an effort worthy of a player of his undoubted class.
Sergio needs to be careful he doesn't run out of friends in low, never mind high, places. While there is little doubt that he remains one of Europe's best 12 golfers, his place in the next Ryder Cup side cannot be regarded as a foregone conclusion.
For one thing, his dodgy putting – always a weakness – continues to offer nothing but encouragement to opponents, especially in head-to-head play. For another, if strong rumour is anything to go by, his deteriorating relationship with Harrington caused two distinct camps to develop within the European side during the last Ryder Cup at Valhalla.
And let's not even get into the hard-to-forget occasion when he expectorated into a cup after holing out. Yuk.
None of those aspects of the Garcia character will, one imagines, be encouraging empathy from European skipper Colin Montgomerie should it come to pass that the five-time Ryder Cup player requires one of the three wild-card picks available come late August and the final qualifying event at Gleneagles.
The irony there, of course, is that Poulter – already a certainty to qualify as of right – would have been in a similar position had his play over the last few months been less stellar. He and Monty have, shall we say, never been close.
"I know people have their own opinions of me," acknowledges Poulter. "They may think I'm wacky or flamboyant or whatever. But they form those opinions without knowing me. Those who do know me know that there is more to me than some flashy trousers. I'm serious about my golf."
And, if last week is anything to go by, that dedication to improvement is paying off in a big way. Let's hope the floundering Garcia takes due note and changes his increasingly errant ways in time to turn round his own career, one that shows disturbing signs of attracting adjectives like "unfulfilled" and "declining."
Come on Sergio, time is a'wasting.
+The full article above appears in the Scotland On Sunday newspaper today.