6.27.2011
sergio’s resurgence
the good news: courtesy of his second-place finish in a
“current-form” money list that ran from the european tour’s
bmw pga championship through the bmw international
open, sergio garcia will play in the british open at royal st.
george’s next month. now the bad: the spaniard should be
headed to the kent coast as the winner, not the runner-up, in
that second bmw-sponsored event. indeed, with seven holes
to play at the nord eichenried course outside munich, germany, garcia looked set to pick up his first euro tour victory
since november 2008, when he won the hsbc champions
in china. one shot ahead after an amazing seven-under-par
burst that included three birdies and two eagles in a six-hole
span, the 31-year-old garcia made four bogeys in his next
five. only a two-putt birdie at the par- 5 18th got him into a tie
with compatriot pablo larrazábal. predictably, given garcia’s
well-chronicled putting woes over the last few years, the
playoff was decided by a missed four-footer on the fifth extra
hole. still, following his t-7 at the u.s. open, coming so close
to victory will surely provide the much-maligned garcia—
who has played in every major since the 1999 british—with a
further confidence boost. one of the game’s premier ball-strikers, he looks more and more like a good either-way bet
for golf’s oldest event. —John Huggan
03
richard heathcote/getty images
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