Sergio Garcia

This week we are featuring one of the more well known players on the tour, Sergio Garcia. Known for his accuracy and strong iron play, Garcia, is typically fast out of the gates in most tournaments and is often near the top of the leaderboard after the second day of play following the cut round.

From a very early age, Sergio seemed destined for success on in the world of golf. At age 3, Sergio learned to swing a golf club and his father, Victor, a club professional in Madrid, took him under his wing and coached him throughout his formative years. He won his club championship at age 12 and at age 16, became the youngest player ever to make the cut at a European Tour Event, the 1995 Turespaña Open Mediterranea. Garcia followed that up by winning the European Amateur, also in 1995. He won the 1997 Catalonia Open on the European Challenge tour as an amateur, and in 1998, he won The Amateur Open and reached the semifinals of the US Amateur.

Garcia turned pro in 1999 after shooting the lowest amateur score for the 1999 Masters Tournament. After winning for the first time professionally at the Irish Open that summer, he had what was perhaps his most famous moment as a professional at the PGA Championship that summer when he went head to head with Tiger Woods in the final round before succumbing and finishing in second place. It marked the first in a series of close calls at major tournaments where Sergio has yet to be victorious.

In 2001, at the age of 21, Sergio won two tournaments, the MasterCard Colonial and the Buick Classic. Sergio would go on to win one PGA tour event in 2002, twice in 2004 and once in 2005 before hitting a period where he struggled to find the winner’s circle, placing in the Top 5 at the major championships 7 times between 2004-2008. The Open Championship, in particular, has been a tournament of great success and also great heartbreak for Garcia. In 18 appearances, Garcia has made the cut 14 times, finished in the top ten 8 times, in the top five 4 times, and second place twice. In 2007, he lost a 4-hole playoff to Padraig Harrington after missing an 8 foot putt on the 18th hole that would have won him his first major championship. During his run of solid play between 2004-2008, Garcia finished ranked in the top 10 in world in 4 of 5 years. However, from 2009-2013, he failed to finish anywhere near the top 10 in any season, with his highest rank being 26th in 2013.

Garcia stormed back in 2014, entering 16 PGA events and making the cut in all, but one tournament. He finished with an impressive 10 top 10 finishes and 3 second place finishes, ending the year as the 5th ranked golfer in the world. Keying Garcia’s successful 2014 run, was his impressive greens in regulation percentage of 68.68%, good for 14th on the tour, and also strokes gained tee to green of 1.82, which placed him 2nd on the tour. He was second on the tour in scoring average at 281, and second in scoring average before the cut.

Sergio started the 2015 season strong with 5 straight Top 30 finishes including a 2nd place finish at the CIMB Classic and a 9th place finish at the Thailand Open. He has struggled a bit in his last two outing with a 46th place finish at the Qatar Masters and missing the cut at the Omega Dubai Classic. Sergio will make his first appearance on the PGA Tour in 2015 at the Northern Trust Open where he has placed in the Top 15 in his last two starts taking 13th in 2013 and 4th in 2012.

We expect Sergio to continue with his strong resurgence in 2014. At age 34, Garcia is hitting his peak years as a professional and is in line to make a last charge at securing a major championship. He tends to play his best golf at the Open Championship each year so if you are looking for him to make a breakthrough, that event could be your best bet. The beauty of Garcia’s game is that he fits well into both tournament and cash game rosters. He is one of the top players every year in scoring before the cut which means you can consistently count on him to be there for you on day 3 and 4 of nearly every tournament he plays in. While he has a penchant for struggling to close out tournaments and often drives fantasy owners crazy with his dramatic defeats, he will place among the top 10 often enough to make rostering him a generally reliable option in most formats