Sergio finally shows up, but slump likely not over yet
Sergio Garcia looked like El Niņo again this week at the Buick Classic, but it's probably too soon to close the book on the Sergio Slump.
It's no secret that Garcia, whose best 2003 finish before this week's tie for fourth was a T25 at the season-opening event, has been undergoing major changes in an effort to prevent his swing from breaking down under pressure. And while the young Spaniard demonstrated this week that he's made progress, it's still too soon to expect a return to form.
Garcia's biggest drop-off from a year ago has been on and around the greens. He's switched putters several times, and ranked an abysmal 152nd on the PGA Tour in putts per hole before this week. He was 35th last year.
Garcia got hot with the short stick at Westchester, making nine putts from more than 10 feet, including four from beyond 25 feet. He led the field in putts per green in regulation, and was second in putts per round.
Sergio's past success on the Westchester track also likely played a factor this week. He won the event in 2001 in similar soggy conditions and finished third the year before.
While his short game deserves the credit for what was by far his best tournament of the year, the rest of his game still lagged behind. He didn't crack the top 40 in the field in either fairways hit or greens in regulation. Just think how many more red numbers he could have posted if he'd kept it in the short grass a little more often.
Exhibit B in the case against a Sergio Surge was his disastrous 72nd hole (the par-5 18th). Tied for the lead and needing to make a birdie to put pressure on the rest of the leaders (all playing several holes behind him), Garcia put his second shot from 235 yards into the thick stuff to the left of the green less than 40 feet from the hole. From there, the Sergio we've seen all season reared his ugly head, as he needed two shots just to reach the green and then two putts to make a costly bogey.
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Remember, those swing changes he's making are meant to help him perform better in the type of pressure-packed conditions he was facing late Sunday. And while the gnarly rough has to take some of the credit for embarrassing poor Sergio, the blame ultimately falls on the guy swinging the club.
More stats and analysis from the weekend in golf:
Five observations
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| Woods |
Despite struggling again on the greens (tied for 39th in the field in putts per round, didn't make a putt of more than 10 feet after Friday) and off the tee (hit just two-thirds of the fairways, although he led the field in driving distance), Woods still scrambled his way to a tie for 13th.
It was Woods' sixth straight worldwide finish out of the top-10. He hasn't been in contention on a Sunday since he was losing his lunch at Bay Hill. Why, then, can't we call this a slump? Easy: In that span, he's doesn't have a finish worse than 29th. For many players, that's a hot streak.
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| Kaye |
Winner Jonathan Kaye had to squeeze in 30 holes, and he played none better than the par-5 18th. Kaye played the hole three times, twice in regulation and once more in a playoff with John Rollins. He birdied it the first two times around (holing a 4-footer late in the day to force the extra hole), then eagled it from the fringe in the playoff for good measure.
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| Wie |
Wie won the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship on Sunday, rallying to beat 21-year-old former NCAA champion Virada Nirapathpongporn 1-up in the final. It's not only her first national title, it's her first win outside Hawaii. It also makes her the youngest champion of any USGA adult event.
But the challenge of the Publinx pales in comparison to what Wie will face in the coming months. In early July, she'll play in the toughest tournament of the year, the U.S. Women's Open. In August, she'll pull an Annika and tee it up against the men in a Canadian Tour event, then do it again on the Nationwide Tour in September.
How's that for a summer vacation before starting high school?
4. Jim Furyk could have become just the third player to win the U.S. Open and Buick Classic back-to-back (Hale Irwin did it in 1990 and Ernie Els in 1997) , but settled for a tie for 22nd.
Furyk, who led the Open in greens in regulation and was second in fairways hit, was in the top-20 in both categories at Westchester.
5. Lost in Rachel Teske's second win in as many weeks on the LPGA Tour was yet another outstanding showing by 21-year-old rookie Lorena Ochoa.
Her runner-up finish at the Rochester LPGA was her second of the year, and she's also placed third in two other events. Ochoa is far and away the tour's top rookie at fourth on the money list.
Halfway through the season, she's earned $494,128 and has a good shot at Karrie Webb's rookie record of $1,002,000, set in 1996. Of course, that's a little misleading, as Webb won four events that year and became the first woman to hit the $1 million mark in a single season.
Up next ...
PGA Tour: FedEx St. Jude Classic
Len Mattiace hasn't done much since his memorable run at The Masters in April, but he defends the second of his two 2002 titles in Memphis this week.
LPGA Tour: ShopRite LPGA Classic
Annika Sorenstam returns to action this week to defend her title against a field that includes Michelle Wie.
Champions Tour: U.S. Senior Open
This week features the senior circuit's toughest test, but there won't be a clear favorite at the Inverness Club. There have been 16 winners in 16 Champions Tour events in 2003. Will we finally see a repeat?
European tour: French Open
No, they won't be teeing it up on clay this week in Paris. Malcolm MacKenzie defends against a field that includes Adam Scott, Trevor Immelman, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal and Thomas Bjorn.
Nationwide Tour: Knoxville Open
The developmental circuit is in Tennessee this week.
David Lefort is ESPN.com's golf editor, and can be reached at david.m.lefort@espn3.com.
