Garcia kicks off the year in style

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2002 Mercedes Championships | Wrap | 07 Jan 2002

When you bring together almost all the tournament winners from the previous season then drama aplenty is almost assured. That proved once again to be the case with Sergio Garcia winning in a playoff from David Toms.

Of last year’s winners only Phil Mickelson and Jose Coceres were missing from the event with Mickelson continuing his absence from the tour to spend quality time with his newborn child and family and Coceres recovering from a broken arm.

The Plantation course at Kapalua on Maui has been the venue for the past three years with this event previously been played, since 1969, at La Costa in California. The event is effectively a Tournament of Champions and was known as that under various sponsors until Mercedes took over the sponsorship in 1994.

The event started with an amazing first round by recent Tour Championship winner Mike Weir. Through ten holes of his first round he was eight under and with two par fives to come there may well have been thoughts of a sub 60 round despite the Plantation course being a par 73 layout. He completed that round in ten under 63 and opened up a three shot lead over Frank Lickliter.

Rounds two and three however saw strong winds gusting to 70 kilometres per hour sweep across the seaside layout and that coupled with the very grainy greens here saw scores blow out over the next 36 holes before more benign conditions on day four resulted in a cavalry charge for the lead.

Starting the final round Scott Verplank and Kenny Perry led by a shot over David Toms and Chris Di Marco. Garcia trailed by four. Garcia, who has made his intentions clear recently suggesting he would like to head both the US and European Tours this year, started his last round on a mission. He was five under through nine seven under through thirteen and despite a bogey at fourteen was able to birdie fifteen sixteen and eighteen to set a target for those behind to chase.

Toms, who in the last twelve months has established himself amongst the elite of golf having moved from 23rd in the rankings to 7th and earned a major on the way needed to birdie the last to win but was unable to do so and he and Garcia headed for the 633 yard par 5 18th again for the playoff. Garcia played the hole to perfection laying up 50 yards short and pitching to ten feet and holing for the birdie while Toms had missed the fairway with his second and could not knock it close enough to threaten.

And so Garcia wins his third USPGA event and it may be that this will start a run that will seriously challenge Tiger this year. His recent win at Sun City over Ernie Els, following a last round charge, along with his win following a last round 63 at the Colonial last year and now this has us and no doubt he believing he is capable of producing anything to win. He is exciting but in order to challenge the number one spot in world golf he needs to produce greater consistency in the Majors. In ten starts in majors as a professional his best has been second to Tiger in 1999 at the PGA but apart from that there has been only one other top ten that being 9th in last year’s British Open at Royal Birkdale. He was also 12th at last year’s US Open but there is genuine reason to believe that he has taken his game and maturity to a different level of late and will likely be a serious contender in this year’s major events.

Garcia’s win and the $US720,000 first prize have taken his money earnings in the US in the two and a half years since turning pro to $US5,300,000 which, given that he still plays several events in Europe each year, is quite an achievement.

Alone in third was Kenny Perry whose last eighteen months have seen a return to the form he displayed prior to the debacle of his playoff loss to Mark Brooks for the PGA in 1996. That was when he sat in the television tower fro over an hour doing support commentary while his opponent in the playoff finished his last round. Last years winner Jim Furyk was fourth continuing his love affair with Hawaii where he has won here and in Honolulu.

Tiger Woods on the eve of his much anticipated visit to New Zealand fired a last round 65 to finish 10th. Tiger is no doubt ruing the opening par four first hole at The Plantation course having dropped a total seven shots to par there in rounds two and three.

Robert Allenby was the only Australian in the event and he finished in a tie for 22nd in the 32 man field and will pick up a cheque for around $US60,000.