Tuesday, July 24, 2007
How's about Carnoustie?
The British Open provided every bit of drama a fan could have asked for. Yes, Tiger wasn’t involved, but theatrics abounded. The famous 18th that scalped Frenchman John Van de Velde in the 1999 British Open was at again.
As the Clarion warned at the beginning of the week Sergio Garcia has yet to find the stones to do it. Needing a par on the 18th in regulation to hoist the Claret Jug, Garcia couldn’t do it. It was a microchosm of his final round. With a three shot lead at the beginning of the day, he shot 73, including two bogeys in the final four holes.
Sure he rallied mid-round, after disasterous three bogeys in four hole stretch on the front, but his scalp wasn’t the only one the 18th at Carnoustie took on this day. Eventual champion Padraig Harrington double bogeyed his final hole in regulation, hitting it into the Burn twice. He still had to hit a great chip to four feet and nail the putt for a double. One more mistake and Irishman Harrington would have missed the playoff.
It was a grind, through and through. In the end, Sergio's excuses were more plentiful than his good shots. He wanted to bemoan how long the bunker raking took on 18, not talk about how he subsequently hit his three iron in that green side bunker. He wanted to talk about how the pin at the 16th had spun his shot 20 feet from the cup, not about how the shot might have gone over the green if it hadn’t caught the pin. He hardly seemed to recall he bogeyed the first playoff hole, while Harrington birdied it, to open the door. Sergio has prodigiuos talent. His problems are mental.
He was interviewed almost immediately on the heels of his devastating loss, a tough time for anyone to talk rationally. But Sergio revealed his defeatist state of mind with quotes like, “I’m playing against a lot of guys out there. More than the field.” He is attributing his losses to forces acting against him. He also said, "It's the way it is, I guess. It is not news in my life." Sergio, come on hombre, it is an unwinnable fight from that state of mind. Sergio, believe you are defeated and you will be defeated. It is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
As the Clarion warned at the beginning of the week Sergio Garcia has yet to find the stones to do it. Needing a par on the 18th in regulation to hoist the Claret Jug, Garcia couldn’t do it. It was a microchosm of his final round. With a three shot lead at the beginning of the day, he shot 73, including two bogeys in the final four holes.
Sure he rallied mid-round, after disasterous three bogeys in four hole stretch on the front, but his scalp wasn’t the only one the 18th at Carnoustie took on this day. Eventual champion Padraig Harrington double bogeyed his final hole in regulation, hitting it into the Burn twice. He still had to hit a great chip to four feet and nail the putt for a double. One more mistake and Irishman Harrington would have missed the playoff.
It was a grind, through and through. In the end, Sergio's excuses were more plentiful than his good shots. He wanted to bemoan how long the bunker raking took on 18, not talk about how he subsequently hit his three iron in that green side bunker. He wanted to talk about how the pin at the 16th had spun his shot 20 feet from the cup, not about how the shot might have gone over the green if it hadn’t caught the pin. He hardly seemed to recall he bogeyed the first playoff hole, while Harrington birdied it, to open the door. Sergio has prodigiuos talent. His problems are mental.
He was interviewed almost immediately on the heels of his devastating loss, a tough time for anyone to talk rationally. But Sergio revealed his defeatist state of mind with quotes like, “I’m playing against a lot of guys out there. More than the field.” He is attributing his losses to forces acting against him. He also said, "It's the way it is, I guess. It is not news in my life." Sergio, come on hombre, it is an unwinnable fight from that state of mind. Sergio, believe you are defeated and you will be defeated. It is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
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