El Nino's march
The Byron Nelson Classic win has proved that theres still hope for Sergio Garcia
| But then somewhere down the line, the progress chart did not just slowed down, but dropped dramatically. He went winless in 2003 and when he won earlier this month, at EDS Byron Nelson Classic, it was his first title on the PGA Tour in 28 months. He has seen all the ups and downs and he is just 24 years old. |
| Nicknamed 'El Nino' and a Real Madrid soccer fan, when he first arrived in the US at 19, he was the toast of the golf world. |
| He was aggressive, good-looking and played golf in the attack mode, going for every pin and scanning the crowds for pretty girls. That Spanish charm was simply too much, and what's more, he was playing great golf. |
| Victor, Garcia's father and a teaching pro, taught his son golf when he was just three years old. By age five, Garcia was already playing at his father's club, Club de Golf de Mediterraneo, for a coke or ice cream on the putting green. Through his early teens, he was amazing as an amateur, often playing with and beating leading pros. |
| In his first year as a pro, in 1999, he won twice in Europe - the Murphy's Irish Open and German Linde Masters in the US. He made seven of the nine cuts on PGA Tour and finished in top 25 in six of them and in top 10 in four. |
| He was second at the PGA Championships, third at Byron Nelson (his first event in the US and only second as a pro) and seventh at WGC-NEC Invitational. He emerged as the Rookie of the Year, and he was so young and charming. |
| In 1999, he was one the European stars in the Ryder Cup at Brookline. That year, when Garcia turned pro, David Duval was No 1 and Woods was just getting used to a new swing "" after winning a Major "" and that, as results later showed, took him to even greater heights. |
| The year 2000 was barren in terms of titles but for the first time he crossed the million dollar mark with five top 10s in 16. |
| In 2001, he was back on a winning trail as he shuttled between Europe and the US. He won twice in Europe and twice in the US at the Colonial and Buick Classic. |
| He was also second at the Memorial and the Tour Championships. He made almost $2.9 million and when the 2002 season opened, he won the first event, the Mercedes Championships. |
| Through 2002, he was close to winning, like being the only player in the world to finish in top 10s at each of the four Majors and had eight top 10s in all. |
| Then came the slump. A big one. He struggled through 2003 with no wins and he made just 12 cuts in 20 starts on the US PGA. He won the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa but that hardly did justice to the kind of talent he possessed. |
| With nothing going right in 2003, Garcia, who was once ranked as high as fourth in the world, dropped to No 95 on the Money List. |
| He overhauled his swing and reduced the lag in the swing, so that he would need to rely on timing, particularly when the pressure was high on the final days. That was when he was falling apart. |
| His game has begun coming together in patches. At the Masters, he played the last 12 holes in eight-under for a card of 66 and tied fourth finish. But he was still not happy. He was on the leaderboard but a lot of flaws were visible and his putting was below par. |
| While his long game gradually improved, his putting suffered. His putting from just over 12-15 feet is still shaky, but once he gets over that, he will be the man to watch out for. The win at Byron Nelson Classic showed that, and there are still three more Majors to go. |