Sergio García

Sergio García

Personal Information
Birth	January 9 1980 (1980-01-09) (age 28) Castellon, Spain
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg)
Nationality	Spain
Residence	Borriol, Spain
College	None
Career
Turned Pro	1999
Current tour	European Tour (joined 1999) PGA Tour (joined 1999)
Professional wins	16 (European Tour 6; PGA Tour 6; Others 4)
Best Results in Major Championships
Masters	T4: 2004
U.S. Open	T3: 2005
The Open	2nd: 2007
PGA Championship	2nd: 1999

Sergio García (born January 9, 1980), nicknamed El Niño, is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings. He has yet to win a professional major championship, having most recently lost the 2007 Open Championship in a playoff, and has not won a tournament for over two years.

Contents 1 Career outline 2 Personal life 3 Golf equipment 4 PGA Tour wins (6) 5 European Tour wins (6) 6 Other professional wins (4) 7 Results in major championships 8 Team appearances 9 Trivia 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

Career outline

García began playing golf at the age of three, taught by his father, Vitor. He was a star player as a junior, winning his club championship at age twelve. Four years later, he set a record as the youngest player to make the cut at a European Tour event, the 1995 Turespana Open Mediterranea. Also in 1995, he became the youngest player to win the European Amateur Championship. García turned professional in 1999 after shooting the lowest amateur score in the 1999 Masters Tournament. He first achieved prominence with a duel against Tiger Woods in the 1999 PGA Championship, where he eventually finished second. Late in the final round, García hit his most famed shot: with his ball up against a tree trunk and the green hidden from view, he swung hard with his eyes shut and hit a low curving fade that ran up onto the green. As the shot traveled, he sprinted madly into the fairway and then jumped to see the result.

When García first turned professional he had an unorthodox swing with a loop and large lag, but during the 2003 season he worked towards making his swing more conventional. In his early years, he repeatedly gripped, released, and regripped his hands on the club handle before finally taking a shot. This "waggle" habit created a stir, especially at the 2002 U.S. Open when some galleries audibly counted the number of regrips into the twenties. Since then he has eliminated the habit. Responding to criticism of his swing, Sergio said, "My swing works for me, so why should I change it? I prefer to have a natural swing and play well rather than a perfect swing and not be able to play good."^[1] He won his first PGA Tour tournament at the 2001 MasterCard Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas and won again at the Buick Classic the same year. In 2002, he won the Mercedes Championships and in 2004, García won the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and the Buick Classic for the second time. His sixth PGA Tour victory came at the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. He also plays a limited schedule on the European Tour, where he has won six times. García was a member of the European Ryder Cup team in 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2006, and holds an impressive career record at the Ryder Cup of 14-3-3. As three of his appearances have resulted in overall victories, Garcia's input in the team has proved invaluable. He had risen into the top five of the Official World Golf Rankings, but after an inconsistent 2006 season, he dropped out of the top 10. In the 2006 Ryder Cup, at the K Club in Ireland, Garcia won both his fourball and foursome matches (with José María Olazábal and Luke Donald, respectively) on day one, beating David Toms and Brett Wetterich in the fourballs and Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk in the foursomes. On day two he paired up with Olazábal again, who won both their matches against Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco in both the foursomes and fourballs. Going into the final day in the singles, Garcia was heavily tipped to be the first person to win all their matches in one Ryder Cup, however Stewart Cink beat him 4 and 3. Europe won the cup again by 18½ points to the United States' 9½ points. After missing the cut of the first two major championships in 2007, Garcia found success at The Open Championship - his favorite of the four majors - at Carnoustie Golf Links. He held the lead after each one of the first three rounds and carried a 3-shot lead over Steve Stricker and a 6-shot lead over the rest of the field into the start of the fourth day. At an early stage of the last round he had extended the lead to 4 shots, but bogeys at the 5th, the 7th, and the 8th holes brought him back to the field. On the final challenging hole he needed a par to win, but failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker. The last putt on the 18th hole on Sunday would have given him his first professional major. He missed it by a fraction and faced a playoff with Pádraig Harrington that he eventually lost by one stroke. In his post round news conference, Garcia seemed to suggest that bad breaks had cost him the championship. During the playoff, on the 16th hole, his tee shot hit the flag stick, but then bounced 20 feet from the pin, and Garcia could not convert for birdie. " It's not the first time, unfortunately, " Garcia stated. " I don't know...I'm playing against a lot of guys out there, more than the field." In the 2007 PGA Championship, Garcia was disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard after the third round.^[2]

Personal life

A bachelor, he drives a Ferrari 360 Modena "quickly" and a Jaguar XJR.^[3] Ex-girlfriends include former world number-one tennis player Martina Hingis, who helped him cope with the emotional side of the game,^[4] and Greg Norman's daughter, Morgan-Leigh Norman, a graduate of Boston College.^[5][6][7] Additionally, he keeps a close friendship with the Uruguayan football player Diego Forlán. They met when the latter was playing for the Villarreal Club de Fútbol, in Castellón^[8].

Golf equipment

García is currently sponsored by TaylorMade Golf,^[9] and uses almost all TaylorMade clubs. The most recent look into his bag came from an interview with Golf Digest Magazine.^[10] His club lineup is as follows:

• Driver: TaylorMade r7 SuperQuad TP 9.0° (Marked 9.5°), TaylorMade Fujikura RE.AX 105 TP shaft
• Woods: TaylorMade r7 TP 13.5° (Marked 15°) (3 Wood), RE.AX 105 TP shaft
• Irons: TaylorMade rac MB TP (2-PW), Royal Precision Project X Rifle Shafts
• Wedges: TaylorMade rac Satin 52° (Marked 50°) (Approach/Sand Wedge), Titleist Vokey Design 58° (Sand/Lob Wedge)
• Putter: TaylorMade Rossa Monza Corza AGSI

García also plays the new TaylorMade TP Red ball. TaylorMade allegedly worked closely with tour pros to develop the ball, and García reported being a big participant in the development process.^[11] There is also unofficial video documentation of a press conference where TaylorMade Senior Director of R&D Dean Snell speaks on the new TP balls while García demonstrates some shots.^[12]

PGA Tour wins (6)

• 2001 (2) MasterCard Colonial, Buick Classic
• 2002 (1) Mercedes Championships
• 2004 (2) EDS Byron Nelson Championship, Buick Classic
• 2005 (1) Booz Allen Classic

European Tour wins (6)

• 1999 Murphy's Irish Open, Linde German Masters
• 2001 Trophée Lancôme
• 2002 Canarias Open de Espana
• 2004 Mallorca Classic
• 2005 Omega European Masters

Other professional wins (4)

• 1997 Catalonian Open Championship (Spain - not a European Tour event)
• 2001 Nedbank Golf Challenge (South Africa - unofficial event)
• 2002 Kolion Cup Korean Open (Asian Tour)
• 2003 Nedbank Golf Challenge (South Africa - unofficial event)

Results in major championships

Tournament	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	T38 LA
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	DNP	T29	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	2

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The Masters	T40	CUT	8	T28	T4	CUT	46	CUT
U.S. Open	T46	T12	4	T35	T20	T3	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	T36	T9	T8	T10	CUT	T5	T5	2
PGA Championship	T34	CUT	T10	CUT	CUT	T23	T3	DQ

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy: 1996, 1998
• St Andrews Trophy: 1996, 1998
• Junior Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997
• Jacques Leglise Trophy: 1994, 1995, 1996 (winners), 1997, 1998

Professional

• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1999, 2002 (winners), 2004 (winners), 2006 (winners)
• WGC-World Cup (representing Spain): 2001, 2004, 2005
• The Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2000 (winners), 2003
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Spain): 1999 (winners)

Trivia

• In 2002, during a practice round, García made an Albatross (double eagle) on the par-5 second hole at the Masters, one of the few players to have ever done so. On the 575-yard hole at the Augusta National Golf Club, García holed a 253-yard 2-iron following a 325 yard drive.
• Sergio and his girlfriend's father, Greg Norman, are designing a new golf course in San Antonio.^[13]

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

References

External links

• Profile on the European Tour's website
• Profile on the PGA Tour's website
• Results in ranking events for the last two years from the Official World Golf Rankings site
• Interview - The Observer, October 8 2006

•  • e Sir Henry Cotton Rookies of the Year

1960 Tommy Goodwin • 1961 Alex Caygill • 1962 No Award • 1963 Tony Jacklin • 1964 No Award • 1965 No Award • 1966 Robin Liddle • 1967 No Award • 1968 Bernard Gallacher • 1969 Peter Oosterhuis • 1970 Stuart Brown • 1971 David Llewellyn • 1972 Sam Torrance • 1973 Pip Elson • 1974 Carl Mason • 1975 No Award • 1976 Mark James • 1977 Nick Faldo • 1978 Sandy Lyle • 1979 Mike Miller • 1980 Paul Hoad • 1981 Jeremy Bennett • 1982 Gordon Brand, Jnr • 1983 Grant Turner • 1984 Philip Parkin • 1985 Paul Thomas • 1986 José María Olazábal • 1987 Peter Baker • 1988 Colin Montgomerie • 1989 Paul Broadhurst • 1990 Russell Claydon • 1991 Per-Ulrik Johansson • 1992 Jim Payne • 1993 Gary Orr • 1994 Jonathan Lomas • 1995 Jarmo Sandelin • 1996 Thomas Bjørn • 1997 Scott Henderson • 1998 Olivier Edmond • 1999 Sergio García • 2000 Ian Poulter • 2001 Paul Casey • 2002 Nick Dougherty • 2003 Peter Lawrie • 2004 Scott Drummond • 2005 Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño • 2006 Marc Warren • 2007 Martin Kaymer

•  • e 2004 European Ryder Cup Squad
Paul Casey ·  Darren Clarke ·  Luke Donald ·  Sergio García ·  Pádraig Harrington ·  David Howell ·  Miguel Ángel Jiménez ·  Bernhard Langer (captain) ·  Thomas Levet ·  Paul McGinley ·  Colin Montgomerie ·  Ian Poulter ·  Lee Westwood

•  • e 2006 European Ryder Cup Squad
Paul Casey ·  Darren Clarke ·  Luke Donald ·  Sergio García ·  Pádraig Harrington ·  David Howell ·  Robert Karlsson ·  Paul McGinley ·  Colin Montgomerie ·  José María Olazábal ·  Henrik Stenson ·  Lee Westwood ·  Ian Woosnam (captain)