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Seasoned Sergio
Though only 22, Garcia is a veteran of golf wars
Posted: Saturday April 06, 2002 8:24 PM
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Spain's Sergio Garcia hits out of a sand trap at the Bay Hill Invitational. Garcia has been working on flaws in his swing. Michael Holahan
The Augusta Chronicle |
By David Westin
The Augusta Chronicle
Can Sergio Garcia really be just 22 years old?
It's true, though it seems as if the Spaniard, who'll be playing in his fourth Masters Tournament, should be in his mid-20s by now.
Garcia, who turned 22 in January, has accomplished so much already it's easy to lose track of his age.
He made the European Ryder Cup team as a teen-ager in 1999, the same year he finished as the runner-up in the PGA Championship as a rookie on the PGA Tour.
His momentum slowed in 2000, but picked up in 2001 when he got his first two PGA Tour wins and finished sixth on the money list with more than $2.8 million.
He's already won once this year on the PGA Tour.
Because he's a veteran on the PGA Tour, Garcia is seldom included among the so-called young guns in pro golf: Charles Howell, David Gossett, Luke Donald, Aaron Baddeley and Adam Scott. They're all in their early 20s.
"Sergio is the unsung hero out there," said Augusta native Howell, 22. "I think people forget about how young he really is. It gives us confidence that we can have success out here as well."
"I am a young player, but I don't consider myself as one of the young guys on the tour," Garcia said. "This is my fourth year on the tour, so I've been around for a while. I am young, but mentally, I don't feel like I'm as young as some other guys."
There's no question about Garcia's ability. Just ask PGA Championship winner David Toms. He lost sudden-death playoffs to Garcia in last year's season-concluding Tour Championship and this year's Mercedes Championship.
"He's obviously got a lot of talent," Toms said. "He won a couple of tournaments last year. Maybe he's ready to break out. He's got the power and great imagination around the greens."
Toms has noticed the joy with which Garcia plays the game. That was first glimpsed by the public in 1999 with Garcia's spirited run at the PGA Championship.
"He loves to play golf as much as anybody I've ever seen," Toms said. "You can just tell that he loves to be out there. I think he approaches it more as fun than a job, at his age. He's just having a good time."
That wasn't always the case in 2000, when Garcia finished in the top 25 in only eight of his 16 starts and was 42nd on the money list.
"I probably took it too seriously," Garcia said of the 2000 season. "And that's why my game wasn't able to come out."
His golf swing at the time was a work in progress, and still is. He has some fundamental weaknesses, especially on his backswing, which can be loose.
"Me and my dad (Victor, a golf pro), we've been working on it our whole lives," Garcia said. "My swing is going to change as I get bigger and stronger. The lag will slowly go away. It's a thing that's always going to be there, but it will be smaller."
The 2002 model of the Garcia swing is noticeably tighter.
"I feel like I'm a totally different player than I was a year ago," Garcia said. "I feel I can control the ball a lot better than I used to do. I scramble better than I used to. You just mature. You get strong. You gain experience. And all those things help you get better.
"I think I've improved a lot. I hit bad shots like everybody else, but I really feel like I can pull the right shot almost every time."
Garcia has so much confidence that he's hoping to become the first player to be the leading money winner on the European and PGA tours in the same year. He shared that goal with the media after he finished third in the European Tour's Johnnie Walker Classic. That came after he won the Mercedes Championship on the PGA Tour.
"It's realistic, but it's difficult, too," Garcia said. "But I've had a great start. So, why not? It's not pressure to me. I think you should ask yourself for as much as you can."
"I don't know, I think it's going to be hard," Toms said. "I don't see how you can play that much golf. He's going to have to play great every time he plays. I don't know if he can play enough events to pull it off. If he's ready to play every time he shows up, I guess he could be somebody that could do it."
Garcia plans to play 18 to 19 PGA Tour events. He knows it's where the best players in the world are and where his future lies.
"For me and my career, I know that I have to play a little more in the States than in Europe to be the best I can be," he said.
The European and PGA Tour wins are fine, but Garcia wants to start winning on the highest level.
"I really feel my game is getting to the point where I can win a major," Garcia said. "Even if I don't win any this year, at least I want to give myself three or four good chances at it, like I did last year. I just want to be able to put myself in that position again."
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