Tuesday, June 26, 2001
For better or worse, Garcia is going to
be judged vs. Woods
By JOEL STASHENKO
Associated Press Writer
HARRISON, N.Y. (AP) — Whether he likes it or not, Sergio
Garcia is going to be judged against Tiger Woods.
After Garcia won the rain-delayed Buick Classic on Monday, he
got several questions about Woods — who finished tied for
16th — and not one about Scott Hoch, who finished second
behind Garcia by three strokes, or any other golfer in this tournament.
“You are disrespecting the other guys,” Garcia said.
“You are disrespecting Scott Hoch, disrespecting J.P. Hayes
and Vijay Singh and all those guys that have a better chance of
winning than him (Woods).”
It was Garcia's second PGA victory in five weeks. He also won
at the Colonial in May and was a contender at the U.S. Open before
fading in the fourth round.
Garcia finished with a record-tying total of 16-under 268. Hoch
was at 271 and Billy Andrade, Stewart Cink and J.P. Hayes were
at 273.
This victory inevitably invited comparison to — here's that
name again — Woods. Garcia won his second tour event at age
21 years, 5 months. Woods won his second tournament in 1996 at
20 years, 9 months.
Garcia has been showing tantalizing signs of becoming a serious
rival to Woods since the Spaniard hit his famous tree-root slice
shot punctuated by a scissors kick in the fairway at the 1999
PGA. He finished second there to Woods and beat him in the “Battle
of Bighorn” last year in a head-to-head made-for-TV match.
“To me, it doesn't matter if Tiger is in the field or not,”
Garcia said. “If I win and Tiger is in the field and he finishes
second, it is even going to be sweeter, but if he is not in the
field, I still love to win because if he is not playing the tournament,
I am not going to think, `Well, Tiger is not here, so why win?'
No. It is not that way.
“It is just great to win.”
Garcia's proud parents, Victor and Consuelo, were waiting by the
18th green at the Westchester Country Club to hug their son after
his last shot Monday. It was the first time his mother saw him
win a pro tournament in person, he said.
For Victor, it was again a matter of redemption. Thought to be
harming his son by staying as his swing coach through Garcia's
dry spell on the PGA tour between 1999 and last month, Garcia
said Monday his father should now be recognized for what he is:
a great coach.
“I think that everybody who said that my swing was bad and
I had to change it, I think is going to have to eat all those
words that they said,” Garcia said. “I think it's a
pretty good swing.”
Victor Garcia is a club pro Sergio and others are trying to prepare
for the Seniors Tour in the United States.
There was nothing wrong with Garcia's swing Monday. Except for
a 3-putt bogey on the second hole, Garcia was nearly flawless
from tee to green in a five-birdie, one-bogey round of 4-under
67. His misses with the putter were all close.
“Today could have been so low,” he said. “I played
so well. I just didn't make many putts.”
Hoch didn't, either. Though he drew even with Garcia at the fifth
hole at 12 under after two straight birdies, Hoch never seemed
able to rattle Garcia.
Garcia nearly drove the green on the short par-4 seventh and made
birdie from the rough to go back ahead, and he made another birdie
on No. 13 by sticking a 9-iron a foot from the cup to go ahead
of Hoch by two. The Spaniard added a tap-in birdie on the par-5
18th for his 3-stroke victory.
“I never could put the pressure on him,” said Hoch,
who is enjoying a record money-making year despite being 45 and
playing with tendinitis in his left hand.
Hoch called Garcia's game “pretty awesome” after Monday's
round, the fourth straight in which the two men played together.
“He is fun. He is lively. He has got a lot of enthusiasm,”
Hoch said.
Woods, meanwhile, said he is going fishing to get away from golf
for a while. When asked what parts of his game he wanted to focus
on, he said, “I don't know and I don't care.”
“I just don't want to play,” he said. “I just need
a little time off.”
But Woods also had his eye on Garcia.
“He's playing great and he needs to do that. It's fun to
watch,” Woods said. “He's playing real solid, and hopefully
we'll go head-to-head in some other tournament down the road.”
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