SPANISH QUEST
Garcia still chasing dream of major
When Sergio Garcia sprinted down the fairway and did a leaping scissors kick on the 16th hole of the 1999 PGA Championship, the 19-year-old still had a chance to chase down Tiger Woods for his first career major title.
Though the Spanish sensation fell short by one stroke, many years and many more opportunities were ahead. Woods had a rival, another phenom set to run away with several titles of his own.
But 17 years and 67 majors later, Garcia is no closer than that Sunday at Medinah Country Club.
“The only thing I can do is just keep giving myself chances and just wait for it,” Garcia said Wednesday at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. “Hopefully it will happen. If it doesn’t happen, it’s not going to change my life. I’m not going to go in a cave and, you know, kind of stay there until I die because I didn’t win a major or anything like that. It’s not that serious.
“But it would be — I’m not going to lie — it would be nice to get at least one. But it’s not the end of the world.”
It would be the beginning of a new legacy, one in which Garcia is no longer grouped with the greatest players never to win a major
The 36-year-old enters his 18th PGA Championship off a pair of solid showings at the U.S. Open and the British Open, finishing tied for fifth in both tournaments.
Garcia also has been given additional hope from a season featuring first-time winners at every major, including 40-year-old Henrik Stenson most recently.
“It is nice to see. I think to see Henrik at 40 winning and the way he did. … Look at Phil [Mickelson], he’s 47 and he probably should have won,” Garcia said. “I think that what that shows me is that never give up, keep giving myself chances and keep waiting for that day when things really happen my way and then hopefully I’ll be able to raise that trophy.”
After four runner-up finishes at majors, 12 top-fives and 22 top-10s, Garcia’s chase continues.
“If you stay healthy, you still can give yourself a lot of chances here and there,” Garcia said. “That’s my goal, to keep giving myself chances and hopefully take as many as possible in the coming years.
“It’s obviously nice to see new major winners, but every week is a new world. Every week is a different story. I would love to make it five in a row. Obviously it would be very nice, but we’ll see. It’s a long week. My goal is to play well, to give myself another shot at winning a tournament, winning a major, and then see what I can come up with.”