Sergio Garcia

[golfbarefoot]

What is the deal with Sergio? It is widely accepted around the tour with players and caddies that Sergio is the best ballstriker on Tour, however, he never seems to win. I know Tiger takes an awful lot of them, but even when Woods isn't factor, Sergio just doesn't get it done. He is a fine putter and always has been or he would not have won all those tournaments and the British Amateur. Somewhere along the way he lost confidence and struggles to roll the rock consistently. I think he hits so many GIR's, but not converting the hole eventually became smaller and smaller..and even still now for him...I have followed lots of players in tournaments and seriously, the guy has unbelievable talent and even to me is hands down the best ball striker I have even seen besides Woods. But as we all know, Golf is made of many parts and the mental part is what Garcia is lacking, not so much the putting.

People give him way too bad of rep for petty crap..I mean He whines a bit in press conferences, and needs to just take the knocks, but man..I am seriously starting to wonder if he has what it takes to win Majors???

What are you guys thoughts??

[Golf4life]

If he keeps dressing like that, no he wont.. I luv it yesterday when what's his name said, yea Sergio is doing great, it looks like he's almost there to break out and win some majors. and Nick Faldo replies.... "or he's getting ready to caddie at Augusta" LOL.. that was too funny. The kid was wearing all white with a green cap...

[Guest]

haha, thats hilarious....i was at the tour championship and told my friend the exact same thing about the master's caddy outfit

watching these guys hit the ball was unreal

[J_Bone]

One word.... "KARMA"

[Shindig]

He's won more than many players have in the Tiger era. 6 on the PGA Tour, 6 on the European Tour, and 4 others. He hasn't won lately, and he isn't approaching Phil or Vijay in career wins (or in age) either.

I believe a lot of professional - and top amateur - winning comes with maturity. I don't mean this as a jab at Garcia in particular (although many will make the maturity jab); I do mean there's a reason I keep hearing that many pros peak in their 30s. Garcia won't be 30 for a few years. If he matures the way many others his age do at that time, we may yet see him really pull it out and be a force to be reckoned with.

[azgreg]

I think it's all in the head. Like the line from Bull Durham: "Million dollar arm and a 5 cent head".

[lewisgl]

Tremendous amount of talent. If he gets the putting improved he should win at least a couple majors, and he is still pretty young.

[brookpe]

I remember watching Ledbetter on Golf Channel when Sergio first came out.

He said he didn't like the "slashing" type swing --led to inconsistency. I think the "big muscle" swingers will always be more consistent.

[cubfanbob]

> He is a fine putter and always has been

Um... no. Just look at the stats.

[DDBowdoin]

a few years ago he was dead last on tour in putting, I believe he's listed at 14th this year. So there's been a clear improvement in his putting but I'm just not sure whats keeping him from the winners cirlce. clearly one of the best ball strikers on tour but it seems as if he can't put all of the elements together when he needs to. i'm not sure what he shot in the final round but i think it was either even or one under and he drove the ball horribly. he pulled some amazing shots from the woods and under limbs to save that score. he's a great players hands down, i followed him for a while at the deutsche and it was amazing, really showed me a lot

[powerfade]

Best ballstriker on the tour? That's a bold statement. He's 112th in the Ball Striking (total driving and GIR rank) right now.

Anyway, the last two posts hit it on the head...he's not a good putter (anymore). His switch to the belly putter helped him at the Open, but he still couldn't close the deal.

[TheNextBen]

He is making good putts consistantly. He should learn to read the greens a little better aswell. And work on his strategy maybe.

[RichF]

What is the deal with Sergio? It is widely accepted around the tour with players and caddies that Sergio is the best ballstriker on Tour, however, he never seems to win. I know Tiger takes an awful lot of them, but even when Woods isn't factor, Sergio just doesn't get it done. He is a fine putter and always has been or he would not have won all those tournaments and the British Amateur. Somewhere along the way he lost confidence and struggles to roll the rock consistently. I think he hits so many GIR's, but not converting the hole eventually became smaller and smaller..and even still now for him...I have followed lots of players in tournaments and seriously, the guy has unbelievable talent and even to me is hands down the best ball striker I have even seen besides Woods. But as we all know, Golf is made of many parts and the mental part is what Garcia is lacking, not so much the putting.

Update. During the last 15 months, Garcia is now 1-5 when it comes to playoffs or final-day pairings: L The Open '07 W The Players Championship '08 L PGA Championship '08 L The Barclays '08 L The Ryder Cup (Singles) '08 L The Tour Championship '08 Is it me being too harsh or is he having trouble closing he deal? (and the last five of those are Wood-less)