Garcia proves his point at Players
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Sergio Garcia could have mentioned 1.71 million reasons why it meant so much to win The Players Championship, but he is not motivated by money.
Or he could have mentioned 53 reasons, one for every PGA Tour event he had played since his last victory three years ago.
But when asked Sunday evening the best part about his playoff victory in golf's richest event against as strong a field as can be assembled without the world's No. 1 player, Garcia revealed the depth of frustration at going so long without winning.
"Not having to listen to you guys," Garcia said.
Laughter came from everyone in the press center except the guy doing the talking.
Seriously?
"Yeah," Garcia said. "I was dead serious."
The trouble with Garcia is that when anyone asks him about a weakness, especially putting, he takes that as criticism. He said he doesn't read stories about himself, rather he judges the media by the questions they ask.
"You heard yesterday, didn't you?" he said.
That was a reference to NBC's Jimmy Roberts asking Garcia three questions after the third round, all related to his putting — whether it was frustrating to hit the ball so well and not make many putts; if he would go straight to the putting green; and if he could identify the problem with his putting.
Garcia supporters, including some PGA Tour officials, thought the interview was over the line. Then again, Garcia had just taken 34 putts in the third round — that's a lot — to fall three shots behind.
And with something to celebrate Sunday — a crystal trophy with his name engraved — Garcia conceded that it is frustrating to play so well and get so little in return.
"I know when I'm putting badly and when I'm putting well," he said. "So nobody else needs to tell me."
There is no denying that the shortest club in the bag has been his biggest problem, which explains why someone who hits the ball so pure and with so much control can go three years without winning.
The bigger issue for the 28-year-old Spaniard is his emotion.
Few play with so much passion. That's what sent Garcia sprinting and skipping up the 16th fairway at Medinah in the '99 PGA Championship, and what made him celebrate as if he had won a major when he beat Tiger Woods in a "Battle at Bighorn" exhibition a year later, the start of a relationship that turned sour.
The emotions that deliver dynamic golf are the same ones that make Garcia sound like a sore loser, whether he blames a rules official (Australia), the weather (U.S. Open) or the golf gods (British Open) when someone else wins.
Through both ends of the spectrum is a young Spaniard who is ultrasensitive.
Winning The Players brought some perspective.
"You're going to criticize probably the best player in the history of golf, so how are you not going to criticize somebody else who is much smaller than that?" Garcia said. "I guess it's part of your job. The only thing I can do is try to keep getting better so I make your job harder to be able to criticize me."
