Sergio Garcia, arguably the best current player yet to win a Major, enhanced his status with a play-off victory at the prestigious Players Championship on Sunday. The Spaniard ended a week of superlative ball-striking on the challenging Stadium Course at Sawgrass by beating American Paul Goydos to the title unofficially dubbed the fifth Major.
American journeyman Paul Goydos held his nerve in testing conditions to edge one shot clear in the Players Championship third round on Saturday. A stroke off the pace overnight, Goydos delivered another superb putting display on the slick greens at the TPC at Sawgrass to stay on track for his third PGA Tour title.
Germany’s Bernhard Langer rolled back the years with a vintage display while American Kenny Perry eked out a one-shot lead in the Players Championship second round on Friday. Langer sank a monster birdie putt from 60 feet on the treacherous 17th green en route to a sparkling five-under-par 67.
Spaniard Sergio Garcia, steadily regaining confidence in his putting, took advantage of an early tee-off time to seize a two-stroke lead in the Players Championship first round on Thursday. Seeking his first PGA Tour title in almost three years, Garcia fired a sparkling six-under-par 66 at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass.
A corridor beneath the grandiose clubhouse is lined with black-and-white photographs from more than a quarter-century of winners at The Players Championship since it moved to the notorious TPC Sawgrass. They have little in common except they beat the best field in golf and got very rich.