Sergio Garcia captures AT and T Byron
IRVING, Texas – Sergio Garcia scored a rare win on the US PGA Tour on Sunday when he beat American Brooks Koepka at the first hole of a play-off for the title in the AT and T Byron Nelson Tournament.
There are just enough flecks of gray in Garcia’s beard to remind us that El Nino is no longer the baby-faced assassin who stole our hearts at the 1999 US PGA Championship.
At 36, he is older, wiser, and still admired for his rare combination of power and precision.
Let’s put aside his reputation for being the best player never to win a major for the moment. For too long he’s been chased by an equally nagging and perplexing question: Why doesn’t he win more on the US PGA Tour?
“It doesn’t bother me,” Garcia said after the third round on Saturday. “I’d rather be a consistent player like I’ve been my whole career than win one and miss 10 cuts. I’d rather have more opportunities even if it doesn’t happen, but at least put myself in that position.”
The opportunities have been abundant for Garcia, who had notched 22 top-10 finishes since his last Tour title at the 2012 Wyndham Championship. (He did win the 2014 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on the European Tour, and the 2015 Ho Tram Open in Vietnam.)
Some, Garcia admitted, he “threw away,” others he noted were “stolen” from him by dazzling feats, such as Rickie Fowler’s ridiculously-good finish at the 2015 Players, or Kevin Streelman closing with seven straight birdies at the 2014 Travelers Championship.
Why hasn’t Garcia won more? It’s a question without an answer. His putter used to bare the brunt of the blame. Then it was his self-defeatist attitude. Some simply questioned his heart.
In the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson, Garcia showed the grit and resolve that often has been found lacking, and as luck would have it, this time he was the one who stumbled into a title. Garcia, who entered the week ranked No. 15 in the world, overcame two water balls on the final nine holes to shoot 2-under 68 and defeated Brooks Koepka with a par on the first playoff.
“It is nice to be on the other side of the coin or whatever you want to call it and, you know, stand here with you guys and with a win,” Garcia said at his winner’s press conference.
He didn’t realize it until he was told later, but in notching his ninth Tour title Garcia matched Seve Ballesteros for the most Tour wins by a Spanish-born player.
“I kind of won a little a la Seve today,” said Garcia, who played bogey-free for his first 44 holes en route to a 72-hole aggregate of 15-under 265.
For most of the day at TPC Four Seasons Resort, it looked
to be the coming out party for the 26-year-old Koepka, who held the
54-hole lead and outdueled Jordan Spieth over the weekend in his
backyard with what Koepka termed his ‘C game.’
But Koepka coughed up a three-stroke lead on the back nine with a pair of bogeys at the 14th and 15th holes, and missed a 16-foot birdie putt for the win at the last. When he tugged his drive into the water off the 18th tee on the first playoff hole, he all but gift-wrapped the title to Garcia.
“You can’t win a golf tournament when you’re swinging it and have no idea where it’s going,” Koepka said.
Using the claw grip, Garcia has shown steady improvement with the short stick. At the Byron Nelson, he led the field, holing more than 403 feet of putts. Less and less does he appear as the tortured soul wallowing in self-pity.
“I still wear my emotions on my sleeve, don’t you worry about that,” he said with a grin. “I guess nowadays, I also realize that obviously winning is amazing, it’s great, it’s an unbelievable feeling but it’s not the only thing in the world.”
Those are words Garcia never would have uttered in 1999, when he made his PGA Tour debut here, or in 2004 when he won the Byron Nelson for the first time. It’s spoken like a man who has been on the ropes, risen from the canvas, and has learned to cherish victory however it may come his way.
To view all the final totals
CLICK HERE
Sergio Garcia sharing lead with a couple of holes to play.
Jordan Spieth, after a couple of bogyes, not in contention
Nelson title after play-off v Broks Koepka
There are just enough flecks of gray in Garcia’s beard to remind us that El Nino is no longer the baby-faced assassin who stole our hearts at the 1999 US PGA Championship.
At 36, he is older, wiser, and still admired for his rare combination of power and precision.
Let’s put aside his reputation for being the best player never to win a major for the moment. For too long he’s been chased by an equally nagging and perplexing question: Why doesn’t he win more on the US PGA Tour?
“It doesn’t bother me,” Garcia said after the third round on Saturday. “I’d rather be a consistent player like I’ve been my whole career than win one and miss 10 cuts. I’d rather have more opportunities even if it doesn’t happen, but at least put myself in that position.”
The opportunities have been abundant for Garcia, who had notched 22 top-10 finishes since his last Tour title at the 2012 Wyndham Championship. (He did win the 2014 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on the European Tour, and the 2015 Ho Tram Open in Vietnam.)
Some, Garcia admitted, he “threw away,” others he noted were “stolen” from him by dazzling feats, such as Rickie Fowler’s ridiculously-good finish at the 2015 Players, or Kevin Streelman closing with seven straight birdies at the 2014 Travelers Championship.
Why hasn’t Garcia won more? It’s a question without an answer. His putter used to bare the brunt of the blame. Then it was his self-defeatist attitude. Some simply questioned his heart.
In the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson, Garcia showed the grit and resolve that often has been found lacking, and as luck would have it, this time he was the one who stumbled into a title. Garcia, who entered the week ranked No. 15 in the world, overcame two water balls on the final nine holes to shoot 2-under 68 and defeated Brooks Koepka with a par on the first playoff.
“It is nice to be on the other side of the coin or whatever you want to call it and, you know, stand here with you guys and with a win,” Garcia said at his winner’s press conference.
He didn’t realize it until he was told later, but in notching his ninth Tour title Garcia matched Seve Ballesteros for the most Tour wins by a Spanish-born player.
“I kind of won a little a la Seve today,” said Garcia, who played bogey-free for his first 44 holes en route to a 72-hole aggregate of 15-under 265.
But Koepka coughed up a three-stroke lead on the back nine with a pair of bogeys at the 14th and 15th holes, and missed a 16-foot birdie putt for the win at the last. When he tugged his drive into the water off the 18th tee on the first playoff hole, he all but gift-wrapped the title to Garcia.
“You can’t win a golf tournament when you’re swinging it and have no idea where it’s going,” Koepka said.
Using the claw grip, Garcia has shown steady improvement with the short stick. At the Byron Nelson, he led the field, holing more than 403 feet of putts. Less and less does he appear as the tortured soul wallowing in self-pity.
“I still wear my emotions on my sleeve, don’t you worry about that,” he said with a grin. “I guess nowadays, I also realize that obviously winning is amazing, it’s great, it’s an unbelievable feeling but it’s not the only thing in the world.”
Those are words Garcia never would have uttered in 1999, when he made his PGA Tour debut here, or in 2004 when he won the Byron Nelson for the first time. It’s spoken like a man who has been on the ropes, risen from the canvas, and has learned to cherish victory however it may come his way.
To view all the final totals
CLICK HERE
Sergio Garcia sharing lead with a couple of holes to play.
Jordan Spieth, after a couple of bogyes, not in contention
Labels: US PGA TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Sunday, May 22, 2016
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