T.J.'s Take: Some thoughts from THE PLAYERS

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Here are some final thoughts on the 35th PLAYERS Championship:

1. For many (see Fred Funk, Craig Perks and Jodie Mudd, among others), a win at THE PLAYERS Championship is one that defines a career. The prestige of THE PLAYERS is unquestionable as many players acknowledge it as the unofficial fifth major.

T.J. Auclair

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However, in the case of the latest winner, Sergio Garcia, this could be a stepping stone for greater things to come. Often criticized for his inability to win a big one, Garcia silenced everyone on Sunday. Garcia and Jeff Quinney (third place) were the only players in the top five to card a score under par in the brutal final-round conditions at TPC Sawgrass.

Jeff Sluman was once asked what he thought of THE PLAYERS as a potential fifth major and famously offered this gem, "When you go Denny's and order the Grand Slam breakfast, they don't give you five things, do they? They give you four."

Fair enough. But major or not, THE PLAYERS provides arguably the greatest drama-filled closing three-hole stretch in golf. If you can handle that, as Garcia did with three pars over those holes in regulation, you are a worthy champion.

And how about the up-and-down for par Garcia had on the 72nd hole to even have a chance at a playoff?

That was special.

2. Thankfully, I have yet to read a story about Paul Goydos blowing THE PLAYERS after his bogey on the 72nd hole. In the cynical world of golf media, you would have expected something like that. If there was a piece written in that nature, I have yet to see it.

Goydos played beautifully for 72 holes despite the bogey that led to the playoff and his ultimate demise.

The 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass is one of those rare par 4s in golf where a par for the pros actually feels like a birdie. In fact, just last week, Phil Mickelson called it a, "par-4-and-a-half."

And, look no further than Goydos himself as to what transpired: "You may look at 18 as being, oh, he bogeyed 18 to lose, but the reality is, in my opinion, to an extent, I got beat. To an extent, I, OK, gave it away a little bit, but to an extent I got beat."

Had Goydos found dry land instead of water on No. 17 in the first hole of the playoff, Garcia's tee shot still goes down as one of the most clutch golf shots in recent memory. And as for the two-putt from short range? Say what you want about Garcia's putting. It would have been nice to finish off his greatest win to date with a birdie, but the fact remains that he didn't need a birdie to win there.

3. The score that surprised me most in the final round was Kenny Perry's disappointing 9-over-par 81. He started the final round in second place, just one shot behind Goydos.

Perry was 2-over par after nine holes, but completely unraveled on the back side with four bogeys and a crushing triple bogey on No. 15.

Three weeks ago, Perry started the final round of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in a tie for 10th, but had to settle for a tie for 50th after a closing 9-over 79. I'm chalking up both those results up as aberrations. Perry has always been one of the longest hitters on the TOUR and is a fine ball striker.

Perry's outstanding career on the PGA TOUR -- nine victories on some of the best courses the TOUR has to offer -- more than speaks for itself. I was just hoping for more from him and for him in the final round. It would be wonderful to see him playing on captain Paul Azinger's U.S. Ryder Cup team in September at Valhalla in his home state of Kentucky, where, incidentally, Perry made it to a playoff in the 1996 PGA Championship before falling short to eventual winner Mark Brooks.

Getty Images

Will we ever see this again?

4. Has Sergio finally found a clothing get up for final rounds? While we'll leave the fashion critiques to Golf Digest fashion guru Marty Hackel, I will offer this: Sergio Garcia looked far more intimidating in his all-black get up on Sunday afternoon than he did in that awful banana-colored monstrosity he wore in the final round of the 2006 British Open at Royal Liverpool (tie for fifth) when he played with Tiger Woods in the final pairing. The only thing that outfit would have intimidated -- and I'm still not even sure about this -- is an ape, who would have scratched his head and thought, "Man, that's a freakishly big banana!"

5. Perhaps the funniest moment from last week's PLAYERS is this little nugget -- before members of the press enter the media center at TPC Sawgrass, they must get past a wonderful older man named "Lucky" -- at least that's what his name-tag said -- who works security for the tournament.

Lucky is dressed each day in his navy blue hat with bold, yellow letters that read, "SECURITY," police-like light blue shirt and navy pants. In terms of height, Lucky is on the short side. But, his personality is extremely tough-guy-ish, kinda like a Joe Pesci.

I made friends with Lucky sneaking him the occasional ice-cold lemonade as a "thank you" for protecting us from any non-media types who unsuccessfully attempted to infiltrate our press center home for the week.

In one of our first exchanges of the week, I asked, "So, how are you, Lucky?"

He stood straight up from his white folding chair like a solider and in a deep, enthusiastic and intimidating voice, he exclaimed, "I turn 81 next week! Feel this (flexing his right bicep)!"

You can't make it up, people.