EL NINO BLOWS CHANCE TO TURN SEASON AROUND
Hot-tempered Spaniard misses cut at Canadian Open, writes Dave Hilson.
OAKVILLE, ONT. There was something blowing at Glen Abbey golf course on Friday morning and it wasn’t just the wind.
Sergio Garcia, the man they call El Nino, was having a tough go of it during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open, and he clearly wasn’t happy.
Never one to hide his emotions, Garcia punted a divot, called out a spectator and slammed a club against his golf bag.
And all that happened in just a two-hole span on his back nine.
Not good for a guy looking to turn around his season.
He was so frustrated, in fact, that he refused an interview request after his round.
El Nino blew into our national championship this week for the first time since 2001, hoping to kickstart what’s been a rather upand-down season. While he has three top 10s, he has also missed six of the past seven cuts, including all three majors.
It’s been 17 years since he last played in a Canadian Open, but perhaps Garcia was hoping to build on some good memories here (he finished T5 in Montreal in 2001 and in third place at Glen Abbey in 2000, the year Tiger Woods won it). Instead, the 2017 Masters champion fired a 2-over 74 on Friday for a 3-under total of 141 and missed the cut by one shot, which did little to help his chances of making the FedExCup Playoffs or his way onto the European Ryder Cup squad, two things he says are his goals.
Only the top 125 players make it into the FedEx Cup playoffs and the Spaniard currently sits at 132 in the standings. An integral part of the European team in past Ryder Cups, Garcia’s spot may be in jeopardy there, too. He currently sits in 22nd place on the points list with only a handful of tournaments remaining until the cutoff date. Thomas Bjorn and his co-captains, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald, are going to have some tough choices to make if Garcia’s play doesn’t improve.
Since he didn’t do well here, a missed cut at the PGA Championship in August likely would end any hope Garcia has of making the team.
Garcia’s day at Glen Abbey began on the par-five 16th hole, where he was wrapping up his opening round after play was suspended due to lack of daylight after a two-hour-and 15-minute weather delay on Thursday. The world No. 20 parred the 16th, birdied the 17th, and parred the 18th to finish up at a respectable 5-under 67, just four strokes back of clubhouse leader Robert Garrigus.
Things continued to go well for the volatile Spaniard as he started his second round in breezy conditions by dropping a four-foot birdie putt on the parfour 10th hole. He then dropped a stroke on the par-five 13th hole and you could see his frustration building.
Though he was driving the ball well, he hit 11 of 14 fairways on the day, he was hitting a lot of loose approach shots and hit only 10 of 18 greens in regulation. While other players such as American Keegan Bradley and Canadian Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., were going low ( both shot 9-under 63s), Garcia was struggling to keep his head above water.
He made the turn at 5-under, and that’s when things really started to unravel.
Garcia hit a drive long and straight on No. 1, his 10th hole of the day, but when his approach landed short and right of the pin, he wasn’t happy. He punted a divot that had been tossed to his caddy straight out of the air, about 20 feet.
Then on the par-5 second hole, he called out a spectator for taking a picture while he was hitting his tee shot.
“Why are you taking my picture while I’m hitting ?” a frustrated Garcia asked while pointing in the direction of the spectator.
The drive was fine, but Garcia’s second shot careened off the back of the green, setting up a tough third shot that rolled through the putting surface and into the rough. Garcia then flubbed his pitch, and that’s when he took his club and rammed it against his bag. It all added up to a bogey.
A frazzled Garcia then went on to bogey the next two holes to drop to 2-under before finally getting a stroke back with a 13-foot birdie putt on the par-4 sixth hole.
Garcia never looked comfortable out there on Friday. Maybe his mind isn’t on his game but on his new daughter, Azalea, who was born in February.
Whatever it is, the Spaniard is going to have to turn things around quickly, or his season will soon be over. dhilson@postmedia.com
El Nino blew into our national championship this week for the first time since 2001, hoping to kickstart what’s been a rather up-and-down season.