In 1995, García became the youngest player to win the European Amateur Championship – which was then followed by the 1998 Amateur Championship. By the time he was sixteen Sergio had played in his first major, The Open in 1996 at Lytham and St Anne’s, which was won by Tom Lehman.
It hailed the arrival and promise of El Niño
By the time the Ryder Cup came to Spain in 1997 Sergio Garcia could only be captivated and the manner of the victory - given that United States were armed with all golfing horse power along with the newest star of the USPGA Tour – Tiger Woods. But despite their dominance of the tournament for the preceding decade Seve Ballestero’s team squeezed a vital one point win against his old adversary, Tom Kite, captain of the USA Team. To keep the trophy in Europe.
Although the legendary Ryder Cup pairing of Seve and Jose Maria Olazabal, ended in 1993 due to Chema’s – as he is affectionately known – battle with a toe injury the Hondarribia native returned in 1997 to play the Ryder Cup with Garrido. Doing so for his captain and former playing partner, Seve Ballesteros.
By the time Olazabal’s next Ryder Cup came around in 1999 the Spanish membership was joined by Sergio Garcia, who had just turned professional, and was to become an important part of the match at Brookline Country Club in Boston. The Rookie signalled his intent by winning his foursomes and four ball matches ahead of the Sunday singles.
At the start of the final day’s singles the European Team’s lead was to quickly prove insufficient as the United States Team mounted a final day comeback, winning 8 ½ points of a possible 12 points, to win the Ryder Cup Trophy for the first time since 1993. Amongst the casualties that Sunday was the young prodigy from Castellon who lost to Jim Furyk four and three.
In the rescheduled event of 2002 at The Belfry Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood formed a fruitful partnership winning two foursomes and a four ball - losing one of the four ball matches to Tiger Woods and Davis Love III.
In the singles Garcia was drawn in the second match of the day behind Colin Montgomerie and lost his battle by one shot to David Thom. As the event was ultimately won by Europe courtesy of Paul McGinley on the eighteenth green, Garcia tasted Ryder Cup victory in only his second outing.
At Oakland Hills near Detroit in 2004 Garcia was probably at his most inspiring when he secured a total of four and half points with a foursome pairing with Luke Donald capturing two points in their matches and the combination with Lee Westwood, revived for the four ball, earning with 1 ½ points from a possible two.
But it was in the singles that El Niño really came of age after he was drawn against Phil Mickelson and started out dropping shots to go two down early on. But a run of three birdies from the ninth through the eleventh turned the numbers red setting the tone for the European Team following behind and the ideal platform for an inspired victory by Bernhard Langer’s men against the US hosts in a huge margin of 18 1/2 points to 9 1/2.
At the K Club in 2006 Garcia was one of Ian Woosnam’s Talisman on Irish soil with Darren Clarke the popular wild card choice during that now infamous weekend in September in Kildare. Garcia again bagged four points although failed to win his singles match against Stewart Cink – with the American wild card playing the match of his life that day.
Indeed from the off at the first hole Cink’s putt dropped for a birdie leaving Garcia battling from behind from the outset – failing in the end – losing four and three.
Amidst the margin of Europe’s victory of 18 ½ points to 9 1/2 once again the result of Garcia’s singles match was lost as he proved a key component of the European team effort - despite his young 26 years.
Clearly it was an environment in which he seemed to thrive.
The trip to Valhalla in 2008 however was a wake-up call as the USA rookies took to the Ryder Cup with relative ease leaving the European team experiencing a five point defeat in Louisville, Kentucky. For Garcia the burden of expectation may have become more noticeable and despite rotating his playing partners in the foursomes and four ball with his old sparring partner Lee Westwood, fellow country man Miguel Angel Jimenez and Paul Casey, Garcia only earned one point in Valhalla.
That point was the result of two halved matches in foursomes with Casey and another halved match with Lee Westwood in the four ball. In the singles on the Sunday, pitched against the latest Asian American USPGA star, Anthony Kim, Garcia went one down after the second hole and never really recovered losing five and four.
Once again Garcia experienced defeat on the other side of the Atlantic which came fast on the loss a month earlier at the 90th PGA Championship in Oakland Hills to Padraig Harrington - where on that final Sunday Garcia ended up in another head-to-head after dropping a lead on the 15th and 16th holes.
Playing against the same player in the PGA Championship who had beaten him in playoff at Carnoustie in The Open Championship the previous summer, El gave Harrington an opening after hitting his approach at the 16th into the water, allowing the Dubliner then repeat what he had done in Scotland the previous summer - roll in clutch putts on the final three holes, two for pars and one for birdie to seal the win – leaving Garcia naturally aghast.
In the wake of the 92nd PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and ahead of the 2010 Celtic Manor Sergio Garcia decided to take a two month break from the game for the first time since he was three years old. In the wake of such an unimaginable decision Captain Colin Montgomerie named him as a Vice Captain avoiding the possibility that a European Ryder Cup team could for the first time in three decades take on the USA without any player from Spain in the team.
At the Master last year Garcia showed that he still had what it takes to compete at the highest level when he shot a three-under-par 69 in the opening round of the Masters on Thursday. But it was a round that contained a bit of everything, after he eagled the par-five 13th hole and then made four birdies which were followed by three bogeys, including one on the last hole.
He walked off Augusta National with a wry smile that was proof enough that even after a rollercoaster day he was at least enjoying himself.
Once regarded as the man most likely to challenge Tiger Woods, Garcia never lived up to those high expectations and like many others has yet to win that elusive major. On Saturday he is paired with the new promise in golf, 22 year old Rory McIlroy, the current golfer of the US Open tile.
It remains to be seen how Garcia will react as the senior player in the pairing on Saturday at Augusta National. Last July both players were paired together for the final round of the Open Championship at Royal St. George.
Perhaps the burden of memories may prove too for Garcia when El Niño plays alongside the new kid in town. Or for McIlroy the collapse of last year remains too fresh on "moving day". After all, this is Augusta and anything can happen
McIlroy and Garcia tee-off in the third last group on Saturday at 7.25pm Irish time.
Copyright Irish Golf Club Gazette
