Sun May 11 20:35:33 2008

Comment | Email | Print

Garcia pars in playoff to win Players

---

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sports Network) - Sergio Garcia parred the first playoff hole, the famous island green at 17, to defeat Paul Goydos Sunday and win The Players Championship.

The win was Garcia's seventh on the PGA Tour, but first since the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. The victory was his biggest to date since this is called by some, "the fifth major."

Garcia has enjoyed close calls in majors, but never broke through. There was the famous debut to the world at the 1999 PGA Championship and the final-round pairing with Tiger Woods at the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage.

Last year was perhaps the most painful. He had a chance to win the British Open Championship, but missed a six-footer for par on the 72nd hole, then fell to Padraig Harrington in a playoff.

Sunday gave Garcia his biggest win.

"It's been a lot of work," acknowledged Garcia. "I feel like I've been playing well, unfortunately I hadn't been able to come around and win. Everything was so hard. I'm thrilled the week is over and I managed to come out on top."

Garcia posted a sensational, one-under 71 on Sunday at the Stadium Course at the TPC at Sawgrass. Under windy conditions, Goydos only managed a two-over 74 and the pair tied in regulation at five-under 283.

They headed to the 17th tee to begin the extra session.

Goydos went first and hit a wedge short into the water. Garcia stepped up and hit his wedge tee ball left of the hole. With the contour of the green and the wind gusts, Garcia's ball rolled down to just inside five feet.

"It ballooned a little bit more than the other one," said Goydos, referring to his shot in regulation. "I saw it kind of hurting and thought uh-oh. You can hit nine-iron over the green, or you can hit wedge short. That's the way it is sometimes."

Goydos played his third from the drop area and hit a great shot to 14 feet. He missed the bogey putt, allowing Garcia to three-putt from four feet, five inches for the win.

Garcia did miss his birdie putt, but was doing no more than cozying it down to the hole. He tapped in for the victory.

"I manage to hit it at the right time," said Garcia, who pocketed $1.7 million for the win. "It was a really tough day. He caught a little gust of wind in the playoff."

For Goydos, this would have been the third PGA Tour victory and by far his biggest. He came up short, but was practical

"Sergio played better than everybody else," acknowledged Goydos. "Look at the stats. That's good that that's rewarded."

Jeff Quinney shot a two-under 70 and would have been in the playoff if not for a bogey at the 18th. He took third at minus-four, three shots better than Briny Baird, who shot an even-par 72 on Sunday.

Stephen Ames, the 2006 winner, also shot an even-par 72 and came in fifth at even-par 288.

Goydos began the final round with a one-shot lead and occupied the top spot on the leaderboard through much of Sunday.

Goydos struggled a bit on the front nine with three bogeys, but a 50-foot birdie putt at the fourth helped offset the big scores. Goydos pitched in for birdie from short of the 10th green, then two holes later, he knocked his approach from the right rough to three feet to set up birdie.

Garcia, who netted two bogeys and a birdie through the opening nine, holed a seven-footer for birdie at 11 and a 17-footer for birdie at 12. He hit his tee ball over the green at 13 and made bogey, which dropped him three behind Goydos.

The young Spaniard holed a miraculous 50-footer for birdie at 14 to get within two of Goydos' lead, but trouble loomed for Goydos. He three-putted for a bogey from 40 feet at the 14th, then fell into a tie for the lead thanks to a missed nine-footer for par at the 15th.

Goydos hit a good five-iron to the left fringe with his second at the par-five 16th. He hit his third in close and tapped in for the birdie and a one-shot advantage.

Quinney fell off the pace when he caught a flier lie in the rough at 18. He could not save par from the back bunker.

Garcia was in the rough too, but laid up short with his second. He pitched to six feet and calmly holed the par putt, not looking like the man ranked 131st in putting on the PGA Tour.

Garcia would now have a chance if Goydos stumbled on his way into the clubhouse, which happened thanks to an errant drive at 18.

"I felt like he could get up and down on 18," said Garcia, who became the first European to win this title since Sandy Lyle in 1987. "Fortunately for me, he didn't."

Goydos laid up with his second and admittedly "chunked" his third. He had 18 feet for the win, but the ball never threatened the hole. It was off to the playoff and Garcia's victory.

"It's a lot of hard work starting to pay off," said Garcia. "That's the most important thing."

Brett Quigley (71), Ernie Els (72), Ben Crane (72) and Tom Lehman (74) shared sixth place at plus-one.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson was in the hunt after the third round, but played poorly on Sunday. He shot a six-over 78 and finished in a group tied for 21st at four-over 292.