2006 Mercedes Championships
Garcia Hopes Putting Leads to Big YearBy Associated Press - January 05, 2006
KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Sergio Garcia stuck two white tees into the practice green at Kapalua and started his drill, one stroke after another with the putter sliding between the two pegs. Garcia noticed watching videotape that when the pressure was on, he rarely hit the putts squarely on the blade. That might explain his frustration over 2005, when he felt as though he hit the ball well enough to win just about every week, yet had only one trophy—the Booz Allen Classic—to show for it. “One win was the least I could get the way I played last year,” he said.
Segio Garcia ranked 196th on the PGA Tour in putting in 2005.The short game is the only thing stopping him from a big year. Garcia hopes to change that starting Thursday, when he joins 27 others in a winners-only field at the Mercedes Championships that officially starts the PGA Tour season. It’s the first of 48 events on the PGA Tour schedule. He’s one of only three players from the top 10 in the world ranking at Kapalua, largely because Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen decided to stay home and wait a few weeks before making their ‘06 debut. And the 25-year-old Spaniard certainly has the experience to win on the Plantation Course, having won four years ago by making a 10-foot birdie putt in a playoff to beat David Toms. That image of Garcia rolling a putt that disappears into the cup seems like a rarity now. He hit the ball so well in 2005 that he led the tour in greens hit in regulation at 71.8 percent. Length has never been a problem, and Garcia averaged more than 300 yards to rank 10th. But the statistic that stands out is putting -- 196th out of 202 players. Garcia is sensitive when talking about the flat stick, because he realizes how much it cost him last year. Ask him about what needs to improve in his game, and he broadly mentions his short game. But he later said that his chipping is vastly improved, and no longer a problem. “The putting,” he said, “is the one that has been, you know, giving me a headache.” A putting tip from Adam Scott carried him to victory at Congressional the week before the U.S. Open, but nothing is more glaring than his collapse at the Wachovia Championship, where Garcia tied a PGA Tour record by blowing a six-shot lead in the final round. The only other player to do that was Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters.
Garcia Hopes Putting Leads to Big YearBy Associated Press - January 05, 2006
KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Sergio Garcia stuck two white tees into the practice green at Kapalua and started his drill, one stroke after another with the putter sliding between the two pegs. Garcia noticed watching videotape that when the pressure was on, he rarely hit the putts squarely on the blade. That might explain his frustration over 2005, when he felt as though he hit the ball well enough to win just about every week, yet had only one trophy—the Booz Allen Classic—to show for it. “One win was the least I could get the way I played last year,” he said.
Segio Garcia ranked 196th on the PGA Tour in putting in 2005.The short game is the only thing stopping him from a big year. Garcia hopes to change that starting Thursday, when he joins 27 others in a winners-only field at the Mercedes Championships that officially starts the PGA Tour season. It’s the first of 48 events on the PGA Tour schedule. He’s one of only three players from the top 10 in the world ranking at Kapalua, largely because Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen decided to stay home and wait a few weeks before making their ‘06 debut. And the 25-year-old Spaniard certainly has the experience to win on the Plantation Course, having won four years ago by making a 10-foot birdie putt in a playoff to beat David Toms. That image of Garcia rolling a putt that disappears into the cup seems like a rarity now. He hit the ball so well in 2005 that he led the tour in greens hit in regulation at 71.8 percent. Length has never been a problem, and Garcia averaged more than 300 yards to rank 10th. But the statistic that stands out is putting -- 196th out of 202 players. Garcia is sensitive when talking about the flat stick, because he realizes how much it cost him last year. Ask him about what needs to improve in his game, and he broadly mentions his short game. But he later said that his chipping is vastly improved, and no longer a problem. “The putting,” he said, “is the one that has been, you know, giving me a headache.” A putting tip from Adam Scott carried him to victory at Congressional the week before the U.S. Open, but nothing is more glaring than his collapse at the Wachovia Championship, where Garcia tied a PGA Tour record by blowing a six-shot lead in the final round. The only other player to do that was Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters.
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