Love Him or Hate Him, Sergio Garcia Has One of the Most Fascinating Golf Legacies of Modern Era
Sergio Garcia was fitted for a superhero’s cape by the time he turned 19, then ventured across the Atlantic to become nothing less than The Next Tiger Woods. Having won the 1995 European Amateur at the ridiculous age of 15, having made his first cut at a professional tournament earlier that year, Garcia arrived in America as a peerless international prodigy with a pronounced and somewhat preposterous purpose.
Tiger would turn Sergio into his personal pigeon, beating him whenever the two found themselves in the Sunday hunt at a big event. The 1999 PGA Championship. The 2002 U.S. Open. The 2006 British Open. The 2013 Players Championship. As one legend soared deep into his own private stratosphere, another struggled just to get airborne. Once the frustration mounted, Garcia became a very different player than the vibrant young phenom with a whiplash backswing and sparkling smile.
Yes, Sergio has 11 PGA Tour victories, including the 2008 Players and 2017 Masters, plus another 15 in Europe, but in terms of his projected career trajectory, those accomplishments fall considerably short of the original expectations. It stands to reason that Garcia was undermined by a severe case of late-1990s hype as much as his own lack of mental toughness, burdened by the comparisons to Woods and occasionally reduced to a sniveling spoilsport when things didn’t go his way.
It’s all teardrops under the bridge now. Sergio turns 42 in January. That cape was little more than a handkerchief.
Sergio Garcia often came up short as an individual, but became a world-beater at the Ryder Cup.
USA Today
With that, we’re left to assess one of the more fascinating legacies in the game’s modern era. Garcia, perhaps the most visible underachiever of his generation, is also the most productive player in Ryder Cup history — his foursomes triumph with Jon Rahm two Saturdays ago at Whistling Straits pushed him ahead of Nick Faldo atop the all-time victory list for either side.
Faldo went 23-19-4 in 11 appearances against the Yanks. Garcia is now 25-13-7 on 10 European teams, meaning he has earned at least a half-point in 71 percent of his matches despite a 4-5-1 mark in singles. In other words, one of the most petulant tour pros known to mankind happens to be the most reliable teammate ever to compete at an event defined by intense pressure and compatible chemistry.
Such success is virtually impossible to explain. “It’s great but it’s not,” Garcia said of passing Faldo, a line that provides a succinct recap of his 22 ½–year pro career in general. When left to rely on his own resources, the guy has a longstanding trend of becoming his own worst enemy. As far back as 2007, when Sergio carried a three-stroke lead into the final round of the British Open, then struck the ball like Ben Hogan but couldn’t buy a putt and lost in a playoff to Padraig Harrington, his body language has told the story better than his scorecard.
Given a teammate every other September, however, Garcia becomes an optimistic bundle of joy, not just holing 40-footers, but serving as an indispensable commodity in Europe’s team room. His big personality affects people in ways that can’t be measured—unless you’re looking at a scoreboard. When Sergio went 1-2-2 at Hazeltine in 2016, the U.S. routed the outmanned visitors. When Sergio went 0-2-2 at Valhalla in 2008, America won by five.
Whistling Straits marked the first time since 1999 that Garcia has posted a winning record (3-1) in a European loss. He has always been the straw that stirs the drink, that beverage being a Molotov cocktail, the detonation of which has consistently earned him the wrath of American golf fans from coast to coast. It only makes his 21-8-6 tally in partnered matches more astounding.
Ladies and gentlemen…. Now on the first tee, from Borriol, Spain, Dr. Heckle and Snide!
Garcia dueled with Harrington at the 2007 British Open and eventually fell short in a playoff.
Golffile
After losing to Harrington at the 2007 British, Garcia was as emotionally distraught as any pro golfer I’ve even seen. Upon arriving in Carnoustie’s tiny locker room to find no one but Sergio’s disconsolate caddie (Glen Murray), the two-minute wait felt more like two hours. When Garcia did enter, he quickly threw me out, then unleashed a scream of agony unforgettable to the few who heard it.
From there, the Man Who Wouldn’t Be Champ headed off to the media center, where he blamed his latest big loss on the cruelty of the golf gods and inexorable fate. The woe-is-me whine drew little sympathy from those who attended the press conference, many of whom castigated Sergio for displaying such an overt lack of sportsmanship in their newspaper dispatches the following morning.
Garcia’s grasp at martyrdom was wearing thin. Harrington himself picked up on the vibe, which led to a lengthy stretch of non-existent relations between the two, particularly after Paddy outlasted him down the stretch to win the 2008 PGA. None of this was about to come into play, however, once Harrington was chosen to pilot the Euros at Whistling Straits.
Sergio received a captain’s pick, then tied that handkerchief around his neck. Three victories later, he’s in his own private stratosphere, a place where not even Woods can touch him. It might be a strange legacy, but it’s a legacy all the same.
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