I have to hold a lot of personal and irresponsible angst when typing this, but Sergio Garcia won the 2008 Players Championship today on what can only be considered as an outlasting.
Garcia played the back nine in two-under, including an amazing par on the 18th hole in winds that would be mildly considered a gale and exaggeratedly considered a mini-hurricane.
Serg hit his tee shot on the last like everyone else - aim it at the middle of the fairway and hope that a slight draw keeps it in the fairway but hope that it can find a mild lie in the right rough. A punch short of the green and an amazing up-and-down for par landed him in a playoff with Paul Goydos.
Goydos played solidly all week and found himself in that awkward position of needing to par the two toughest finishing holes in golf to secure himself not only the biggest victory of his career but a life-defining moment, securing financial and job-security for the rest of his days. A win at the Players would mean the world to Goydos and a notch in the belt to Garcia, but it turned out that the golfer with the better resume did win at Sawgrass.
No matter your take on Garcia, with his Ryder Cup history, the spit in the cup experience or his constant whining and waggling, he's one of the best ball strikers in the world and a streaky putter can come around every now and again and make him a scary contender.
The shot in the playoff was a perfect example of this - nothing spectacular, nothing amazing, just a shot in the right spot to the right tier that trickled to nearly two feet after Goydos dumped his in the drink.
Tiger had the Masters in 1997, Mickelson had Augusta in 2004 and maybe Sergio will look back and have Sawgrass in '08. With as much talent as he embodies it would be a travesty if this was only the end.
Absolutely week-defining picture by Lyons/Getty Iamges
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