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Sergio Garcia |
Sergio Makes Golf Fun Again
By Joe E. Cervi, Rockiesgolf.com columnist
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. - Has it been that long since golf was fun?
Just a few years ago, a young Tiger Woods pumped his fist right into the heart of professional golf. Tigermania as it were was at its peak when the kid was just 21 years old. He whipped crowds into a frenzy, smiled at the cameras and hugged his mother. Golf was wholesome. Two full years on the PGA Tour, and numerous (and hefty) corporate sponsorships later, Tiger's smile isn't as bright as it used to be. Huge galleries, once Woods' lifeblood, are suddenly a nuisance. His game is getting better and better, but his persona appears to be shrinking a bit. After his recent rumblings about compensation for Ryder Cup participants, Woods' detractors have become louder and greater in number. Just when you thought golf's wunderkind sold out, along comes this 19-year-old swashbuckler from Spain. Meet Sergio Garcia, heir apparent to the Spanish golf thrown. Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal have bowed down to the young prince. "Olazabal is a good friend of mine and Seve and (Miguel) Jimenez, they are greats," Garcia said humbly. "I will be glad to follow in Seve's footsteps." Garcia is youth personified. In fact his nickname is El Nino. He takes his courtesy cars at golf tournaments as a courtesy to the sponsors. But he doesn't drive them; he only earned his driver's license the day after the British Open. Garcia chats up spectators on every hole, often instead of talking to fellow playing partners. One shot during the final round of the PGA Championship at Medinah will forever describe Garcia. It was a 6-iron from the base of a tree that sliced more than 50 yards to the 17th green at the fabled Illinois golf club. "I don't usually go to a tree and hit balls from there," Garcia said this week at the Sprint International at Castle Pines. "Sometimes on the driving range I like to hit draws and fades. I know how to make a slice so I just saw the shot (in my mind) and just tried to slice it as much as I could." Garcia ran halfway up the fairway, did a leap of faith in the air, and pumped his fist because he it a one in a million shot. A huge gallery, and millions more who witnessed the shot on TV, went crazy. "The noise helped me," Garcia said in exceptional English. "You know, when you are out walking and all the people say `Come on, Sergio! Keep it going. You can do it!' And that really helps. When you go into a green and they start clapping and you and screaming, `Come on Sergio! That helps a lot. "I don't know if it was the largest crowd I've ever been before, but it was one of them. It was something unbelievable." Garcia finished a stroke behind the aforementioned Woods, who now has won two majors at just 23. But Garcia emerged as No. 1 in the hearts and minds of golf fans. "That is something that goes with your personality," Garcia said. "I have always liked to have fun. I am a kid that always is moving. I can't sit still. I have to be doing something because I am very active. And sometimes, when I hit good shots in the right moment, I do like I did there -- I started running and seeing where the ball was going. "I am sure a lot of players have fun playing, but they maybe don't show it like I do." Garcia's quick rise in golf even preempted soccer as the No. 1 sport in Spain last week. Heck, even the President of Spain called to congratulate Sergio. "He told me he was very proud of me and that he had a great time watching me on TV," Garcia said. Now all that awaits El Nino is a possible matchup with Tiger in the Ryder Cup Sept. 23-26 in Maryland. "That would be fun," Garcia said. Yes, it would.
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