sergio, el ninothe boy

Seeing Sergio playing with Tiger Woods in the final round of the Buick made me think back to 1999, and what could have been. Remember when "El Nino" stormed onto the scene (even with eyes closed) and appeared to steal the thunder from Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship. (See here). Sergio, only 19, played with bravado and boldness. I loved it when he raised his fist on the par 3 on the back nine on Sunday and stared Tiger down, who was watching from the tee. Lo an behold, Tiger went on to bogey the hole (as I recall). Although Tiger hung on to win by 1 stroke, after winning, an emotional Tiger gave a lot of props to Sergio, and even a hug. After the tournament, the two soon became friends.

Flash forward to 2006: Sergio hasn't won a major and he hasn't defeated Tiger Woods when both have been in contention (excluding the Battle of the Bridges and the Ryder Cup). After the round, Woods and Garcia barely seemed to acknowledge each other with other than a half-hearted handshake. Where's the love? More importantly, for Garcia, where's the game? His support team appears to have made the free-spirited Sergio into an overly mechanical, unnatural golfer and putter. Sometimes, kids know best. They don't think, they just do.