Tough-talking Garcia is ready to win a Major

If you're widely hailed as the best golfer on the planet yet to have won a Major Championship questions about how you deal with the pressure and how long until you break through are lurking around every corner. Talking about it becomes as tedious and frustrating as not being able to go out and do it.

Immediately following Sergio Garcia's win at this year's PLAYERS Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida at TPC Sawgrass, an event some in the game consider golf's unofficial "fifth major", Garcia made a rather odd statement.

"I'd like to thank Tiger for not being here," said the 28-year-old Spaniard.

This week at Royal Birkdale, Garcia is saying all the right things and is one of the odds on favorites to win his first Open Championship. Last year, Garcia bogied the final hole of the Open and eventually lost to Padraig Harrington in a four-hole playoff. Now Garcia is talking tough, even when it comes to Tiger. His actions will have to speak louder than words but right now his verbiage sounds like a victory is imminent.

"With all due respect, the Open is bigger than any of us, even Tiger Woods," said Garcia on Tuesday. "And if I happen to never play golf again or Tiger happens to never play golf again, the Open will still be played, and that's the most important thing. Nobody is bigger than the tournament itself, and it can be a great player, but it doesn't matter.

"You know, if I manage to win this week, I'm not going to go, oh, I won the British Open but Tiger wasn't there. I still have the Claret Jug, which is the most important thing."

Loosely translated Garcia said Tiger or no Tiger it's my time to win this tournament. I thought it was rather fitting that Phil Mickelson overcame his Major Championship struggles at Augusta. Mickelson deserved to have his breakthrough performance at the Masters. Garcia has come tantalizingly close before in this event and when he finally does win a major, it should be this one.

"Probably so, mainly because I love this event," Garcia said when asked if he felt like this was his best Major Championship. "I love this major. Everything about it, it's great."

When Garcia won the PLAYERS, he almost sounded apologetic. Now he sounds like a man ready to break free from the title of best player with no majors. I think it's time for Sergio Garcia's monkey to find a new back to climb on. 

Email (will not be published)

Name

Title

Comment
 remaining characters

Post