
Kevin Sutherland, fresh off the 2002 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, fired a final round 68 at today's Barclays and found himself in a playoff with Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh. To be fair, Sutherland has had four top-10s this season, but he's about as far from exciting as you can get on the golf course.
But sometimes it's less about mind-blowing shots than it is about grinding it out, which is exactly what Sutherland was able to do today.
Garcia, on the other hand, shot a 1-under 70, and just missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole that would've given him the outright victory. Instead, in true Sergio fashion, he burned the edge, and after Singh did likewise two groups later, all three reconvened on the 18th tee box for a playoff.
Garcia and Singh both striped their drives, while Sutherland pushed his tee shot into the trees, effectively taking him out of contention. Sergio and Vijay found the green with their second shots, both ending up some 25-30 feet from the hole.
And then things got awesome: two of the tour's worst putters proceeded to drain their birdie putts -- first Sergio and then Vijay -- like it was the most natural thing in the world. Off the the par 5 17th.
Garcia pulled his tee shot into the rough on the right, tried to hit a hook from there but watched as his ball went straight -- behind a tree on the other side of the fairway, and then hacked his way to a par. Singh smoked his drive, hit his second shot some 260 yards to 20 feet, and calmly took two putts to claim the victory. Not too shabby.
For Garcia, it's just the latest in a long line of disappointing finishes, though, to his credit, he was particularly upbeat during the whole affair. Bacon points out that Sergio is now 4-4 in playoffs, which isn't bad, so there's that.


Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-25-2008 @ 6:57AM
Dan said...
It wasn't mentioned that Sergio got a free drop from in front of that tree! I didn't know that if your ball lands in front of a tree, and you have no shot at the green, you can pull out the rule book, and get a free(one club lenght) drop. Some thing about either roots, or burrowing animals, allowed him the drop. I will always get relief now, seeing that the PGA rules allow it. Kind of reminds me of when Tiger's ball hit the top of a building, and it wasn't deemed out of play.
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8-25-2008 @ 7:55AM
bigflyer said...
Sergio spit in the cup of a missed gimme putt hole on tour last year.
Many years ago VJ was alleged to have cheated while playing on the Austral-Asian golf tour.
Most of the pros cannot stand either man.VJ goes through caddies more than people change their underwear. Caddies detest him except when he wins$$$$$$.
Both struggle with the flat stick more than the above average tour player.
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8-25-2008 @ 11:29AM
joel alldredge said...
It is very sad that the writer must down grade two extremely talented golfers, both considered by knowledgeable people as just that. He evidently knows and respects only Tiger Woods. I don't think Tiger would approve of that. Joel
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