Sergio hopes to stay on a hot streak
ERIN, Wisconsin: Every year the winner of the Masters enters the US Open as the only golfer with a chance to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam and Sergio Garcia took his turn facing the prospect at Erin Hill on Tuesday.
The calendar-year slam of golf ’s Major championships has not been achieved for 87 years, since Bobby Jones swept the top events of his day by winning the 1930 US Open, British Open, US Amateur and British Amateur.
Tiger Woods accomplished the next best thing by holding all four of the Major titles at once after claiming the US Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000 and capping off the monopoly by adding the 2001 Masters to complete a “Tiger Slam”.
The year’s second Major begins today.
“I guess the guy that wins the Masters every year has the potential of doing that. It is something nice to have the possibility of doing, but we all know how difficult it is,” Garcia said.
“I just want to go one tournament at a time and give my best this week and hopefully by Sunday night we can keep having that talk.”
Garcia, 37, won his maiden Major in Augusta in April in a play-off against England’s Justin Rose and believes he should have many more chances to add to his list.
“That’s the goal and that’s where we want to go,” he said.
“I still feel in good shape and my game feels nice. I’m still working hard on it.
“I definitely hope that I can keep playing well and win many, many more now that we have our first one. But time will tell us.”
Garcia said he has not lost the appetite for more despite satisfying a quest that had seemed a sure thing back when at the age of 19, he pressed a 23-year-old Woods down the final-round stretch at Medinah to finish runner-up at the 1999 PGA Championship.
“Obviously we’ve achieved something that we’ve been trying for for so long,” he said. “And it’s easy to kind of take a deep breath and relax. (But) I’m still working on my game as much as I can and as hard as possible.
“I want to keep consistent, keep playing well, keep giving myself chances at winning Majors and being in Ryder Cups.”
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy turned from excited to flabbergasted on Tuesday after the world number two was told that US Open officials had decided to mow down some areas of the tall fescue that frames the fairways at Erin Hills.
Four-time Major winner McIlroy, one of the game’s best drivers of the golf ball, had just spoken about how eager he was to attack the long, links-styled, rolling farmland course off the tee.
But he was left incredulous when informed that some of the fescue lining the generous fairways was being mowed.
“Really? We have 60 yards from left line to right line,” he said. “You’ve got 156 of the best players in the world here. If you can’t hit it within that avenue, you might as well pack your bags and go home.
“These are the widest fairways we’ve ever played in a US Open. Even the first and second cut (of rough) is another 10 yards on top of that.”
Some players in the field had grumbled about how difficult it was to advance the ball out of the fescue that stood almost knee high.
On Tuesday, US Golf Association said areas of fescue would be mowed because the tall, thin grass was laying down due to the heavy rains that hit the area on Monday night and into Tuesday.
“I get that it’s thick and whatever, but it’s a hazard,” McIlroy said.