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Growing pains Garcia hitting bumps in road to stardom
Posted: Thursday March 30, 2000 07:16 PM
It may be tantamount to suggesting the emperor has no clothes on, but has anyone begun to notice a slight slip in the halo of golfing prodigy, Sergio Garcia, recently? His second year as a professional was always going to struggle to match his sensational debut season, when he won two titles, finished as runner-up in the PGA Championship, and acted as a breath of fresh air in Europe's Ryder Cup team. That much was expected. However, it's his apparent loss of charm that I wonder about. First, there was that distinct note of youthful beligerence at the beginning of the season, when the 20-year-old said he no longer wished to be known by his nickname of El Nino, as, in his native Spanish, it has childish connotations unbefitting of his new adult status. Then, there was a falling out with his former caddy, Jerry Higginbotham, who'd guided him through all his early triumphs, only to be axed as soon as Sergio's results took a minor dip on the scale of excellence. That was followed by what I thought was a rather dour unco-operative interview with our own Jim Huber on CNNSI's "Golf Show", in which, despite Jim's affable prompting, Sergio came up with not much more than stock unsmiling answers that offered his fans little real insight.
Finally, there was the news this week that Garcia has sacked his caddy of less than four-months, Fanny Sunesson, whose previous partnership with Britain's Nick Faldo, lasted 10-years, and yielded 6 Major titles. It's perhaps the latter incident, and the reasons put forward for the break-up, that gives most cause for concern. Rumours floating around the golf world having suggested that Garcia was too confrontational for the widely experienced and respected Swedish caddie, and too macho to accept the advice of a female. It's also said that Fanny was pushed before she jumped. Her new employer, the ecstatic Fred Funk, claiming she didn't feel she was appreciated. Rumours of course, are not the gospel, and have to be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt. But the fact that the hearsay seems to tie in with what appears to have been Garcia's recent mood, at least gives fuel to the fire. Now none of the above would matter if the Spaniard's game was in high gear. He wouldn't be the first surly genius in sport. And, as the young Nicolas Anelka, a footballer at Garcia's beloved Real Madrid, has recently proved, the pressure of expectation can cause the prodigies of this world to do some pretty strange things. However, in Garcia's case, becoming difficult to work with has also coincided with an alarming slump in his form. Apart from a 5th place in the unoffical Williams World Challenge in Arizona, his first week with Sunesson incidentally, Sergio's performances as he prepares for the upcoming Masters, have been lacklustre to say the least. A lowly 39th on the European Order of Merit, his dismal record of one top-10 finish on the US tour in 5-events hit rock bottom last week, with a failure to make the cut at the Players Championship. Has the slump produced the attitude? Or has the attitude produced the slump? I can't say. What I can say is that Sergio was a greater joy to watch last season than he's been so far in this one. That of course is a shame for the game. But above all else, it's a shame for the player, who arrived on the scene as an extremely likeable and bright new spark. Let's hope it's just a phase he's going through.
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