Garcia hopes for game-lifting week again at THE PLAYERS

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Sergio Garcia received a much-needed pep talk before THE PLAYERS in 2008. He's gotten off to a slow start again in 2009.

Sergio Garcia was on a mission when he showed up at THE PLAYERS Championship last year.

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The Spaniard was struggling, failing to finish in the top 10 in his first eight starts on the PGA TOUR in 2008. He had missed the cut at the Masters and was having another forgettable week at the Wachovia Championship when his caddie, Glen Murray, and close friend Camilo Villegas had a heart-to-heart five days before THE PLAYERS.

"I was a little down, things weren't happening for me," Garcia said Thursday. "That's when Camilo started telling me, 'I see you hit balls on the range, nobody hits it like you. You shouldn't be worse than No. 2 or No. 3 in the world the way you hit the ball. Just believe in your ability.' "

Garcia started believing again. And he started playing better.

He opened The PLAYERS with a 66 and finished with a huge par save on the 72nd hole, getting Garcia into a playoff he won when Paul Goydos hit his tee shot into the water at the famous par-3 17th. Villegas seemed prophetic.

"I'm glad we had that talk," Garcia said, smiling. "It definitely helped."

Garcia made all the right moves down the stretch, holing a 45-foot birdie putt at the 14th hole to remain in contention, then buried a clutch 8-foot par putt at No. 18 to get into a playoff when Goydos bogeyed the hole. The win ended a three-year victory drought on the PGA TOUR and restored Garcia's confidence and place among the game's elite.

"It was pretty much a dream to win The PLAYERS," Garcia said. "Under the conditions, the way I came through on the back nine, it was pretty special. This is our championship and, outside the majors, this is the tournament we all want to win. It was the kind of week I needed to jump-start my year."

Indeed, starting with THE PLAYERS, Garcia finished in the top five in six of his last 11 events in 2008. That included a runner-up finish to Padraig Harrington at the PGA Championship and playoff losses at The Barclays and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. He finished third in the FedExCup standings and became the first European in 71 years to win the Vardon Trophy.

Garcia carried this momentum into the fall, winning a pair of European Tour events to rise to a career-best No. 2 in the world rankings. Villegas was proven correct.

Little wonder Garcia is anxious to return to TPC Sawgrass to defend his title. And not just to see the posters of him among the previous PLAYERS winners.

"I've been looking forward to returning since they gave me the trophy," Garcia said. "I've always enjoyed that demanding course, where you know pars and an occasional birdie is a good score. I know I can contend if my game is in good shape."

But just like in '08, Garcia has gotten off to a slow start this year. He has yet to record a top-10 finish in six starts and has just one top-25 showing (a tie for 13th at The Honda Classic).

Maybe it's time for another chat with Villegas.

"I've been working hard, but I've been going through a couple of things outside the golf course that doesn't help," Garcia said. "Coming back to a course where I've played well definitely helps my confidence."

While most point to Garcia's key putt at the 72nd hole as his signature moment, he believes it took place much earlier in the round, on a green adjacent to No. 18.

"I think the par save I made at No. 9 was huge," Garcia said. "I had just bogeyed the eighth hole and I hadn't played No. 9 poorly. I knew I needed to make that putt to have a chance, to keep my round going."

Yet Garcia knows it eventually comes down to the famous last three holes at TPC Sawgrass: The par-5 16th , the island par-3 17th and the rugged par-4 18th with water all the way down the left side. It did last year, like most years.

"Those last three holes are obviously very exciting because they're the last three holes and a lot can happen there," Garcia said. "If you're just a little off, you can easily finish bogey, whatever or bogey/double-bogey."

Garcia, who's No. 3 in the latest Official World Golf Ranking, said he no longer considers himself one of golf's "young guns." His birth certificate supports this belief.

"I'm 29," he said. "I don't want to say I'm old, at least not yet. I don't feel like a young guy; I feel like I've been here for a while."

Winning The PLAYERS, obviously, never gets old.