Still Time for Sergio in Rough '09, Beyond

Monday afternoon in downtown New York and while Sergio Garcia may not have time on his hands, he does have his hands on an expensive timepiece.

Less than 24 hours after the final round of the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., provided another reminder that golf seems to be carrying a real mad-on for him, the star-crossed Spaniard is keeping a scheduled sponsor promotional appearance for Omega. In addition to hosting a clinic for youngsters from two New York junior golf associations, Garcia is on hand to donate his "Mission Hills Double Eagle Chronograph Constellation" wristwatch to a public display that includes Michael Phelps' Planet Ocean Chronograph and Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin's Speedmaster Moonwatch.

So when better to ask: Where has the time gone?

"It has gone quickly," he says.

Garcia will turn 30 in January and it is impossible to not wonder how the once precocious "El Nino" finds his game growing old disgracefully.

Yes, there are seven career PGA Tour wins, but he remains 0-44 in majors and is now winless on the PGA Tour for 15 months.

Sunday's tie for fourth in Greensboro did assure him a place among the 125 golfers who qualify for the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoff series that begins with The Barclays on Thursday. But it did little to dull the ache that is becoming Garcia's career.

Through seven holes of Sunday's final round, he was 18 under for the tournament and two shots in front. He finished 15 under and one shot out of a playoff.

Needing birdie on the 72nd hole to climb into a four-way tie, Garcia's shot from a greenside bunker rolled to the lip.

"I had a good chance of winning," Garcia says. "Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling great. I wasn't comfortable all day long. Even when I was leading by two, I never felt like I was in total control of myself."


And the worst season of Garcia's life continues.

A year ago, he was No. 2 in the world, powered by a victory in The Players Championship and a playoff loss to Padraig Harrington in the PGA. This year, Sunday's T-4 was just his second top-10 of the season. He is 89th on the FedEx point list.

The line for those ready to shed a tear over Garcia's plight is unarguably a short one. Over the years he has whined, pouted and postured, turning more followers away than bringing them into his circle.

On this day, however, only a short night's sleep after giving another tournament away, Garcia is courteous to the extreme, working his way through the day's to-do list -- throwing himself into the youth clinic down to checking off a list of scheduled telephone interviews.

"Been asked a couple of times about it," Garcia says of Sunday's disappointment. "It's fine."

Finally, he is reminded that the junior golfers from First Tee of Metropolitan New York and the Golf Club at Chelsea Piers, who devoured his instruction and stories, could not care less that he remains winless this season.

Garcia brightens.

"There is no doubt what you do on a golf course is a big part of what people think of you, but there are other things you do that are as important as playing well -- maybe people just don't see," he says. "Playing great golf is great, but at the same time you have an opportunity to help other people and if you do that it makes you grow as a person. At the end of the day, I think it makes you grow as a golfer, too."

Garcia then takes it farther. Earlier this year he admitted to a broken heart, the lost love of former girlfriend Morgan Leigh Norman. At Greensboro, he talked about a lack of concentration and loss of mental confidence that followed.

On Monday, he sounded grown up.

"Golf-wise, I wouldn't say this was my worst season ever," he offers. "I think maybe 2003 was worse. But outside golf, this probably is my toughest year ever.

"It does not matter what you do. It does not matter who you are, or where you are. Everybody goes through those things. It was the first time I ever fell in love. I had never had that feeling before. I enjoyed every minute of it. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it ended. You have to move on and find it again. That's all you can do."

He still has time.

Biggest Winner

Besides American self-esteem, the big winner in the United States' 16-12 victory over Europe in Solheim Cup play at Sugar Grove, Ill., was Michelle Wie.

The 19-year-old LPGA rookie, whose promise is only exceeded by her baggage, played like the one-time child prodigy with the biggest name in women's golf, rather than the more-recent carrying-the-weight-of-the-world laborer.

Wie, a captain's pick by U.S. leader Beth Daniel, finished 3-0-1, including Sunday's single win over Helen Alfredsson. More importantly, she was witnessed smiling and laughing along the way.

"People have seen a different side of me here," Wie said. "I can't tell you how much fun this has been."

Coincidence? A week earlier, Daniel informed always-hovering parents BJ and Bo Wie that they would not be allowed in the team room or at team dinners.

"This week has given me a great confidence boost," Wie said. "I feel very good about how I played here."

The First Golfer

Despite reports last week that the Secret Service was busy securing an exclusive golf course in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., for President Barack Obama and Tiger Woods to play sometime this week, the world's No. 1 player on Monday morning said it is not happening.

"Evidently people know more about my life than I do," Woods said during an appearance on the FOX News morning show. "I haven't even been informed yet."

But thanks to the new stimulus program, Woods still gets three skins.

Posting Up

Before the PGA Tour's four-tournament playoff series begins Thursday in Jersey City, N.J., with The Barclays, some heavy shuffling took place Sunday at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N. C., as players jockeyed for a place in the field.

While Ryan Moore was winning a three-way playoff over Kevin Stadler and Jason Bohn, players who jumped in as top 125 money winners and qualified for the playoff series included David Mathis (118), Stadler (76), Chris Riley (119), Todd Hamilton (121) and Jeff Maggert (123).

Players who were inside the top-125 before the event and dropped out include Tom Watson, Andrew Romeo, Jeff Jones, Charles Warren and Rich Beem.