Garcia found Playoffs game, confidence in Greensboro

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Aug. 27, 2009
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Sergio Garcia normally doesn't play six weeks in a row. Heck, three straight is a stretch, particularly when the ebullient, but enigmatic Spaniard is crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean to ply his trade.

When he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, though, that's exactly the situation Garcia put himself in. What otherwise would have been a week off turned into his first appearance at the Wyndham Championship since 2005.

And that may have been a blessing in disguise.

Garcia did more than earn much-needed FedExCup points at Sedgfield Country Club last week. He did more than assure that he'd get in the requisite 15 PGA TOUR starts so he wouldn't need to return for the Fall Series to retain his membership.

The 29-year-old just may have turned his season around.

Prior to Sunday's solo fourth, Garcia hadn't finished higher than 10th on the PGA TOUR in 2009. Sure, he squandered a three-shot lead on the back nine but so what? Garcia found himself in contention again and that did wonders for his sagging confidence.

"Last week was nice," Garcia acknowledged. "It was good to see ourselves getting that position, then getting that feeling of being out there trying to win a tournament and getting the juices flowing a little bit."

That's why the 65 he shot Thursday at Liberty National in the first round of The Barclays was so important. Here he is tied for the lead with Paul Goydos and Steve Marino in the first event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

"It's obviously very nice, after last week and playing well and being up there all week and in contention, to open this tournament with a good, solid round, on a course that ... don't get deceived by the scores, it's not an easy course," Garcia, a two-time Barclays champ, said.

"That's important and hopefully we can go out there tomorrow and play another solid round and get ourselves in a good position for the weekend."

One step at a time.

Laham/Getty Images

Garcia can move into the top 10 in FedExCup points with a win this week in Jersey City.

Garcia had been clearly frustrated when he came to Greensboro last week. His answers in his pre-tournament press conference were short; his face somber and dark -- and not just because of that beard he's growing once again.

With each sub-par round, though, Garcia's mood improved. He was clearly the crowd favorite, and when his bunker shot at the 72nd hole hung tantalizingly on the lip, stopping millimeters shy of ushering Garcia into a playoff, the disappointment of the fans was palpable.

Garcia hit two shots on Thursday that were almost as good. The one at No. 7 stopped 3 feet from the pin for birdie; the one on the next hole settled one inch further away.

"You always try to make it," Garcia said with a knowing smile. "Unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't go as close as you want but that is the main goal -- put it in the hole with the least amount of shots. ... We always enjoy having those birdie putts."

Garcia made seven birdies in all and would have owned the lead alone had it not been for an errant tee shot on his final hole. He is tied for second in greens in regulation, missing just four, and he was 11 of 14 in fairways hit.

"The course, it's the kind of course that if you play well, you can shoot a score with the greens being a little soft like they are," Garcia said. "But at the same time, if you're a little bit off, you can struggle a little bit. The rough is quite thick.

"The greens are very small and with a lot of movement on them, but you know, I managed to hit the ball well today. Drove the ball nicely. Hit a lot of good iron shots and made a couple birdie putts here and there. So overall, a good, solid day."

Suddenly that little detour to the Piedmont Triad seems like time well spent. If it means Garcia plays six straight weeks until the BMW Championship, so be it. After all, when he went to Greensboro ranked 115th in the FedExCup standings a spot among the 100 in next week's Deutsche Bank Championship looked like an uphill battle.

"I wish I would have played better at the PGA and I would have been able to take last week off, but I went to Greensboro and I'm happy I did," said Garcia, who moved up 26 spots in the FedExCup. "I played well there. They treated me unbelievable. The people were really looking forward to seeing me.

"I gained a little bit of confidence in my swing and my ability and I put a good round today. So I'm looking forward to hopefully keep doing the same thing and we'll just see. We'll see how we feel, depending how we do, we might have to suck it up and play a little bit extra."

And make no mistake -- Garcia knows how important the Playoffs are.

A year ago, he lost to Vijay Singh in sudden death at The Barclays and to his good friend, Camilo Villegas at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. In between he tied for fifth at the Deutsche Bank Championship and 20th at the BMW Championship. He finished third in the FedExCup overall.

"We are just looking forward to hopefully finishing the year well here, keep this good momentum going, and see if we can make a year that has been a little bit slow hopefully a little better."