Euro 2008: Sergio Garciacutea

Sergio García (born January 9, 1980), nicknamed El Niño, is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings (over 200 weeks between 2000 and 2007^[1]). He has yet to win a professional major championship, having most recently lost the 2007 Open Championship in a playoff.

Career outline

García began playing golf at the age of three, taught by his father, Vitor. He was a star player as a junior, winning his club championship at age twelve. Four years later, he set a record as the youngest player to make the cut at a European Tour event, the 1995 Turespana Open Mediterranea. Also in 1995, he became the youngest player^{[citation needed]} to win the European Amateur. In 1998, he won the British Amateur.

García turned professional in 1999 after shooting the lowest amateur score in the 1999 Masters Tournament. He first achieved prominence with a duel against Tiger Woods in the 1999 PGA Championship, where he eventually finished second. Late in the final round, García hit his most famed shot: with his ball up against a tree trunk and the green hidden from view, he swung hard with his eyes shut and hit a low curving fade that ran up onto the green. As the shot traveled, he sprinted madly into the fairway and then scissor-kick jumped to see the result.

When García first turned professional he had an unorthodox swing with a loop and large lag, but during the 2003 season he worked towards making his swing more conventional. In his early years, he repeatedly gripped, released, and regripped his hands on the club handle before finally taking a shot. This "waggle" habit created a stir, especially at the 2002 U.S. Open when some galleries audibly counted the number of regrips into the twenties. Since then he has eliminated the habit. Responding to criticism of his swing, Sergio said, "My swing works for me, so why should I change it? I prefer to have a natural swing and play well rather than a perfect swing and not be able to play good."^[2]

He won his first PGA Tour tournament at the 2001 MasterCard Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas and won again at the Buick Classic the same year. In 2002, he won the Mercedes Championships and in 2004, García won the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and the Buick Classic for the second time. His sixth PGA Tour victory came at the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. He also plays a limited schedule on the European Tour, where he has won six times.

García was a member of the European Ryder Cup team in 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2006, and holds an impressive career record at the Ryder Cup of 14-3-3. As three of his appearances have resulted in overall victories, Garcia's input in the team has proved invaluable. He had risen into the top five of the Official World Golf Rankings, but after an inconsistent 2006 season, he dropped out of the top 10.

In the 2006 Ryder Cup, at the K Club in Ireland, Garcia won both his fourball and foursome matches (with José María Olazábal and Luke Donald, respectively) on day one, beating David Toms and Brett Wetterich in the fourballs and Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk in the foursomes. On day two he paired up with Olazábal again, who won both their matches against Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco in both the foursomes and fourballs. Going into the final day in the singles, Garcia was heavily tipped to be the first person to win all their matches in one Ryder Cup, however Stewart Cink beat him 4 and 3. Europe won the cup again by 18½ points to the United States' 9½ points.

After missing the cut of the first two major championships in 2007, Garcia found success at The Open Championship - his favorite of the four majors - at Carnoustie Golf Links. He held the lead after each one of the first three rounds and carried a 3-shot lead over Steve Stricker and a 6-shot lead over the rest of the field into the start of the fourth day. At an early stage of the last round he had extended the lead to 4 shots, but bogeys at the 5th, the 7th, and the 8th holes brought him back to the field. On the final challenging hole he needed a par to win, but failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker. The last putt on the 18th hole on Sunday would have given him his first professional major. He missed it by a fraction and faced a playoff with Pádraig Harrington that he eventually lost by one stroke. In his post round news conference, Garcia seemed to suggest that bad breaks had cost him the championship. During the playoff, on the 16th hole, his tee shot hit the flag stick, but then bounced 20 feet from the pin, and Garcia could not convert for birdie. " It's not the first time, unfortunately, " Garcia stated. " I don't know...I'm playing against a lot of guys out there, more than the field." In the 2007 PGA Championship, Garcia was disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard after the third round.^[3]

On May 11, 2008, García won The Players Championship on the PGA Tour in a playoff against Paul Goydos. On the first playoff hole, the 17th, Goydos hit a pitching wedge that ballooned and fell inches short of the green and into the water, while García played a pitching wedge to within four feet of the hole. Goydos made double bogey while García made par for the win.^[4]

Personal life

A bachelor, he drives a Ferrari 360 Modena "quickly" and a Jaguar XJR.^[5] Ex-girlfriends include former world number-one tennis player Martina Hingis, who helped him cope with the emotional side of the game,^[6] and Greg Norman's daughter, Morgan-Leigh Norman, a graduate of Boston College.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Additionally, he keeps a close friendship with the Uruguayan football player Diego Forlán. They first met in Castellón when the latter was playing for the nearby La Liga club Villarreal.^[10]

Golf equipment

García is currently sponsored by TaylorMade Golf,^[11] and uses almost all TaylorMade clubs. His club lineup is as follows:

García also plays the new TaylorMade TP Red LDP ball. Under the leadership of Senior Director of R&D Dean Snell, a golf ball scientist whose name is on many of Acushnet's patents relating to the Pro V1, TaylorMade worked closely with tour pros to develop the original TP Red and Black golf balls, and García reported being a big participant in the development process.^[12] There is also unofficial video documentation of a press conference where Snell speaks on the new TP balls while García demonstrates some shots.^[13]

PGA Tour wins (7)

European Tour wins (6)

Other wins (4)

Results in major championships

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Results in World Golf Championship events

¹Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Trivia

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