SirShanksAlot
Born: January 9, 1980
Birthplace: Castellon, Spain
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 160 lbs
Turned Pro: 1999
Bio
Whenever you look at the young guns on the PGA Tour and players who are contenders to be the next big rival to Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia has to be at the top of the list.
Garcia burst on to the professional golf scene in 1999 when, in his first PGA tournament as a professional, he shot a 62 in the opening round and ended up in a tie for third at the GTE Byron Nelson Classic. In only his sixth start as a pro Garcia collected his first win at Murphy's Irish Open. On the PGA tour he would make the cut in seven of nine events entered that year including a dramatic second place finish behind Tiger at the PGA Championship. He would then go on to play in the Ryder Cup as the youngest player ever in the competition and finish with an impressive 3-1-1 record.
Although he is only 25 years, old Garcia has already won 14 events worldwide and been one of Europe's top performers in three Ryder Cups.
He began golf at the age of three at the club where his father and teacher worked. At fourteen he became the youngest player to ever make a cut in a European Tour Event and at age fifteen he became the youngest player to ever win the European Amateur Championship.
Garcia is a player very much in the same mold as his hero Seve Ballesteros. Both are incredibly creative on the course and have a magic touch around the greens. Also like Seve, Sergio has a fiery personality and is not afraid to show his emotions on the course even though they sometimes get the best of him.
Although some swing changes in the last couple years have slowed him down there appears to be more great things in store for young Garcia in the future. He has always been a favorite of mine to watch and I would be very surprised if he doesn't win his first major by the end of 2006.
Quick Facts
PGA TOUR Victories
(5) 2001 MasterCard Colonial, Buick Classic. 2002 Mercedes Championships. 2004 EDS Byron Nelson Championship, Buick Classic.
International Victories
(9): 1997 Catalonian Open Championship. 1999 Murphy’s Irish Open [Eur], Linde German Masters [Eur]. 2001 Trophee Lancome [Eur], Nedbank Golf Challenge [SAf]. 2002 Canarias Open de Espana [Eur], Kolon Cup Korean Open [Asia]. 2003 Nedbank Golf Challenge [SAf]. 2004 Mallorca Classic [Eur].
Other Victories
(1): 1999 Dunhill Cup [with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose Maria Olazabal].
Equipment
Despite his small stature Garcia possesses a lot of power in his golf swing. His huge hand lag creates a lot of club head speed and ball spin. He is very good driver of the golf ball and very creative around the greens. The one area that probably needs work is his streaky putting.
One of the strengths of Sergio's game is his driving. He not only hits the ball along way but also is fairly accurate with the driver and is usually at the top of the total driving statistics. His driver of choice is the Taylor Made R7 Quad TP. He plays this driver with a Mitsubishi MAS 2 shaft and 9.5 degrees of loft. On his driver and all other clubs Garcia uses a Golf Pride Tour Velvet Grip.
His fairway wood is a Taylor Made V-Steel 13-degree 3-wood.
For his irons Sergio plays a Taylor Made forged set from 2-9 iron. He has switched sets a couple of times over the last year or so but is currently playing a forged combo set. This set is similar to the Rac Tour Preferred Combo that was available from Taylor Made last year. His irons have True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts in them.
Garcia carries three wedges in his bag. He has a 50-degree Taylor Made RAC wedge with a satin finish. He also carries a 56-degree Taylor Made RAC black sand-wedge. His lob-wedge is a 60-degree Titleist Vokey.
The one club that is constantly changing in Sergio's bag is the putter. It seems like almost every round he has a new model. It is getting to the point where it is tough to know whether he switches putters because of his inconsistent putting or if his putting is inconsistent because he is always changing putters. The model that was in his bag most often last year is the Taylor Made Mezza Monza Center-Shaft, however he has experimented with many other Taylor Made Rossa models. The putter in his bag as of the Accenture World Match Play is a more conventional Anser-style Taylor Made Rossa putter.
Sergio plays the lower spinning ProV1X golf ball.