Monday, July 23, 2007

Final-Round Thrill Ride At Carnoustie

Sergio Garcia, a person who is notorious in giving up leads on Sunday had a chance to win one of the PGA's biggest tournaments yesterday.

Garcia started the day 3 strokes up on the 2nd place player in the British Open yesterday. He started his round well staying par threw the 1st 6, but then got 2 straight bogeys to go down to 7-. Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington was having a great round getting birdie after birdie and getting closer to the lead. Garcia then got 2 straight birdies on the 13th and 14th to get a big lead. He would then bogey the next hole though. Harrington kept up the pace getting a eagle on 14 and having the lead going into the final hole.

But on the final hole, he hit it into the water twice to double-bogey! This meant that Garcia needed a par to win the Championship. After hitting his fairway shot in the sand, he hit it onto the green to give himself a 12-foot putt for the win. But it just went left, so Garcia and Harrington went to a 4-hole playoff.

Skip to the final hole, Garcia needed a long birdie put for a tie after Harrington got the lead on then 1st hole. Garcia again burned the edge of the hole leaving the door wide open for Harrington to win the Open with a 3-foot putt. He made it becoming the 1st Irishman more than 50 years to win the Open.

After the round, all of the talk was about Sergio blowing it yet again. "To tell you the truth, I don't feel like I did anything wrong," said Garcia, who closed with a 73 and was 1 over in the playoff. "I really didn't miss a shot in the playoff. I hit unbelievable putts. They just didn't go in."

He had a change of heart in the next interview. "I should write a book on how not to miss a shot and not win a playoff."

Harrington also talked about this win and what it meant for him. "I think if I had lost, it would have been hard to take it," Harrington said. "But because I had a chance, I didn't let myself get down about taking a 6. I convinced myself if there was a playoff, I would do the best in it."

He certainly did do the best he could.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As great as it was watching Sergio blow it on Sunday I almost feel sorry for the guy for having to carry the lead through the whole tournament.

John Shannon said...

It is sort of getting sad, isn't it?