Sergio Garcia won his second Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City on Sunday supporting the fight against child abuse in South Africa.
”Nick Price asked me if I would support the campaign against the abuse of chlidren,” said the charismatic Spaniard, indicating the two silver logos pinned to his golf shirt collar. ”And I was only too happy to do it.”
Garcia, who beat South Africa’s Retief Goosen for the $1,2-million prize after a sensational birdie in a sudden-death playoff at the par-three 16th, was a hit among the younger set during his stay at the Pilansberg resort.
”This game is all about confidence,” said Garcia.
Garcia, who enjoys nothing more than a good night’s jol, excudes confidence. How else does a player shoot a 66, as he did on Friday, after a night of heavy partying at the popular Traders Horns nightspot while most of the field were early to bed?
Asked about the big night at Traders, Garcia responded: ”What do you call a big night? A big night in Spain you come home at seven in the morning. That is a big night. I left Traders I think at 12:15 and I was sleeping at 12:30, plenty of sleep, nine hours.”
On Saturday night he was in party mode, albeit at a lower key, playing roulette with a lively entourage until beyond midnight and the 23-year-old’s young fans cringed on Sunday when he shanked his approach shot for a bogey on the par-four first hole.
”Definitely, it was hard to overcome,” he responded. ”It was one of those things. I did not really give it much importance though.
”I was a bit excited, I was a bit nervous and I did a very quick swing and hit it 50 yards right. After that I calmed down and I think to overcome that, it was pretty nice.
”But after I hit that I said from now on there is no pressure on me with the irons because any shot I hit is going to be better than that.”
And so it proved to be — except for his bogey at the par-four sixth — as he scored four birdies over his 18 holes for a final round of 70 to force the sudden death playoff against Goosen.
But his best birdie was saved for the 16th in the playoff, the same hole at which he beat Ernie Els in sudden-death for the 2001 title.
”I told Retief ‘well played’ and gave him a high-five,” said Garcia. ”He was quite funny because he congratulated me and gave me a little smile and said ‘you like this hole hey?’ That was pretty nice.”
Asked whether he was going to party on Sunday night in celebration for his win, Garcia said: ”Maybe. But I’ll miss out on Traders. That place is very busy.” – Sapa