Garcia comfy playing on blustery day
| • | Leaders survive Maui gusts |
| • | Tournament historical statistics |
By Bill Kwon
Special to the Advertiser
KAPALUA, Maui — The five leaders going into today's final round of the Mercedes Championships had better look over their shoulders. No, it's not Tiger on their tails, but Sergio Garcia.
El Nino. Talk about a breath of fresh air.
While the rest of the elite field tried to survive the 25-35 mph kona winds, Garcia loved the day. He tied for the day's low round — 5-under 68 — for a 54-hole total of 210 to close in on co-leaders Kenny Perry and Scott Verplank, who are four strokes ahead.
"It was a day of survival. Survival on every golf shot," Perry said.
"It was brutal out there," added Mark Calcavecchia, alone in fifth place at 209, one behind the other front-runners, Chris DiMarco and David Toms.
Jeff Sluman said he felt like the Nebraska defense after the Miami game, after finishing his round Thursday. On Survival Saturday, the winds blew even harder.
"What wind?" Garcia said in jest, evoking laughter in the press room after his round. "I actually enjoyed myself out there. It's been great since I played with these kind of winds. It was a good test."
And Garcia hopes it continues to blow as hard for today's final round, because he considers himself a good wind player.
"I like it tough. I'm probably more comfortable than some people. I've played a lot in the wind, so I can handle it more or less a little better than some other people," he said.
Like Tiger Woods, Garcia plays golf with a lot of imagination and creativity. This week, Sergio is doing it a lot better than Tiger at the par-73, 7,263-yard Plantation Course, which sprawls over several plateaus in the West Maui Mountains.
The windy conditions have turned even Tiger into a mere mortal. He shot a 74 for the second day in a row, putting him in danger of his worst finish in the Mercedes Championships. A two-time champion with three other top-10 finishes in his five previous appearances, Woods is alone in 16th place at even-par 216 — 10 shots behind Verplank and Perry.
Garcia pointed out what a dramatic difference an opposite wind can make at the normally easy 447-yard first hole, which yielded no pars yesterday.
With little wind in Thursday's opening round, Garcia hit a "smooth" 7-iron from 173 yards to reach the green. Yesterday, he needed a 3-wood from 243 yards for his third straight par there.
"Different, huh?" said Garcia, who added that he hit an 8-iron from 205 yards to birdie the par-4 seventh, while needed the same iron from 102 yards into the wind at No. 12.
It was that kind of a windy day. No problem for Garcia.
An occasion the young Spaniard will never forget what occurred during the 1996 British Amateur. It was so windy that day he three-putted five of his first seven holes. That's not counting a five-putt from four feet at the second hole.
"I was fortunate today. I felt really comfortable putting. Other than short putts that I missed probably inside six feet, I made all of them," said Garcia, whose only blip was an "unbelievable" bogey at the par-5 fifth.
"I hit a great drive middle of the fairway, a knockdown 3-iron laying up," said Garcia, who then hit a knockdown 9-iron from 102 yards. "I thought it was a decent shot."
Instead, the wind took it right and the ball went off the green and almost into a bunker. He chipped to six feet only to miss the par putt.
The bogey proved to be a wake-up for Garcia, who birdie 6, 7 and 9.
Birdies at 10, 14 and 15 got him to nine-under and in good position to mount a challenge.
Although he is playing the par-5s in six-under, Garcia again failed to birdie the par-5, 663-yard finishing hole, much to his disappointment.
"(I'm) unhappy with 18 again. Haven't birdied any of the days. What can you do?" he said.
Well, an eagle or birdie at 18 today could be the difference in determining who will walk off with the $720,000 top prize and return here next January.
"(Winning) would be great because it will mean that I'll come back to Hawai'i next year," said Garcia, who will be celebrating his 22nd birthday with a dinner with his parents and some friends next Wednesday before playing in the Sony Open.
