Sergio Garcia will be 20 tomorrow. And though we are familiar with the remarkable achievements which earned him the Association of Golf Writers' Award for 1999, it is interesting to look further back at the astonishing development of a player who is about to leave the turbulent teens behind him.
We in this country may feel a particular closeness to the young Spaniard, given his breakthrough as a tournament professional came in the Irish Open last July. It is also perhaps inevitable that his early career should be compared with the precocious talent of Ronan Rafferty. Then, on a broader level, there is the fascination of seeing how he matched up to Jack Nicklaus at the same age.
Garcia was 10 when he first broke 80; he shot 70 as a 12-year-old and was playing off scratch at 13. At 14, he made his first cut in a European Tour event and was 15 when he captured the European Amateur Strokeplay Championship.
Then, as a 17-year-old, he won the British Boys, the Catalan PGA Championship and the Spanish Amateur, ending the year with a stroke-average of 69.33. And in 28 professional tournaments as an amateur, he made the cut in 21.
At 10, Nicklaus carded 51 for the first nine holes he ever played. As a 13-year-old he won three matches in the US Junior Championship (for players aged 18 and under). He also won the Ohio State Junior Championship and the Columbus Junior Matchplay Championship.
When he was 14, he retained the Columbus title and qualified for the US Amateur, losing in the first round. At 16, he won the Ohio State Open Strokeplay and, at 17, qualified for the US Open at Inverness, where he missed the cut after two rounds of 80. At 18, he played his first USPGA Tour event, finishing 12th at Firestone.
As a 12-year-old on a school trip to St Andrews with CBS Newry, Rafferty shot level par for nine holes on the Old Course. In 1977, when he was 13, he tied with Philip Walton for the 54-hole lead in the East of Ireland Championship at Baltray. Then, as a 15-year-old, he won the British Boys, led the professional pre-qualifiers at Royal Dublin for the Irish Open and made his full, amateur international debut against Wales.
At 16, Rafferty shared the English Strokeplay title with Peter McEvoy, played for Britain and Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy and became the youngest winner of the Irish Close. A year later he was the youngest ever to play in the Walker Cup. And, after turning professional in October 1981, he won the Venezuelan Open title as an 18-year-old, 13 months later.
On the face of it, Rafferty and Garcia did better than Nicklaus at the same age. But if the Bear had to make up for lost time, he did so with a vengeance in that his first professional victory happened to be in the 1962 US Open at Oakmont, after a play-off with Arnold Palmer.
With the brashness of youth, Garcia is in no way overawed by Nicklaus' achievements. On being told that the Bear had won 18 major professional titles, El Nino remarked: "Phew, that's probably too many. But I think that 30 years ago, for the very good player is was probably easier to win."
No doubt he will learn that a great player can only beat the best around at his or her time.
"THE first thing that Fred said was that if this thing is going to work, we need to change the name from Women's to Ladies'. He said it was more appropriate."
- Patty Berg, a founder member of the LPGA Tour, recalling the thoughts of promoter Fred Corcoran, 50 years ago.
Rarely can a greenkeeper have been so vilified. "I hope I don't ever encounter these conditions again," said David Duval. "This course is going to penalise you whether you hit good or bad shots," said the world number one, Tiger Woods.
But there were others who thought the Carnoustie greenkeeper, John Philp, had done a splendid job in preparing the famous links for the British Open last July. "You won't find a better-presented links course than this," enthused Colin Montgomerie. And outgoing Royal and Ancient secretary, Michael Bonallack, said: "We are delighted with the course."
So, Woods and Duval gained confirmation last weekend that it takes more than wealth and sporting success to influence the British establishment. How so? Well, among the list of sports people, including Tommy Horton, who were awarded an MBE in the New Year's honours list, there was the redoubtable Mr Philp, for "services to golf".
Players such as Barry Lane and Mark Calcavecchia, who will be hitting 40 this year, should remember to meet the milestone with a sense of humour. Like Seve Ballesteros did when he was 40 during the US Masters three years ago. A stranger stopped and asked him: "Does 40 feel any different?" "How you know I shoot 40," the Spaniard inquired earnestly. "Happy birthday," his fan whispered. Whereupon Ballesteros held out his hand and beamed: "Mi amigo".
AT the end of a week in which I found myself embroiled once more in the battle of the sexes a la golf, it strikes me that a little levity might be appropriate. And who better to provide it than the inimitable P G Wodehouse, in this piece from Keeping in with Vosper?
"The young man in the heather-mixture plus fours, who for some time had been pacing the terrace above the ninth green like an imprisoned jaguar, flung himself into a chair and uttered a snort of anguish. `Women,' said the young man, `Are the limit.'
"The Oldest Member, ever ready to sympathise with youth in affliction, turned a courteous ear. `What,' he inquired, `has the sex been pulling on you now?' `My wife is the best little woman in the world.' `I can readily believe it.'
" `But,' continued the young man, `I would like to bean her with a brick, and bean her good. I told her, when she wanted to play a round with me this afternoon, that we must start early, as the days are drawing in. What did she do? Having got into her things, she decided that she didn't like the look of them and made a complete change.
" `She then powdered her nose for 10 minutes. And when finally I got her on to the first tee, an hour late, she went back into the clubhouse to phone to her dressmaker. It will be dark before we've played six holes. If I had my way, golf clubs would make a rigid rule that no wife be allowed to play with her husband.'
"The Oldest Member nodded gravely. `Until this is done,' he agreed, `the millennium cannot but be set back indefinitely. Although we are told nothing about it, there can be little doubt that one of Job's chief trials was that his wife insisted on playing golf with him'."
To which most men and women golfers of my acquaintance would chorus a hearty "Amen".
JACK Nicklaus wanted to step aside as the honoree at his own, Memorial Tournament, this year, so that the Captain's Club, who decide such matters, could honour the late Payne Stewart. But it seems that Nicklaus has been a long-time choice, given that he will be 60 at the end of this month and that this is the 25th anniversary of the event. So the Bear reluctantly agreed, apparently on the understanding that Stewart will be honoured in 2001.
This day in golf history . . . On January 8th, 1950, Ben Hogan completed his first 72-hole tournament since a near-fatal accident 11 months previously. Remarkably, on wobbly knees and with both legs strapped from ankle to groin, he tied with Sam Snead for the Los Angeles Open. But when the 18-hole play-off was deferred until eight days later because of rain, Hogan lost by 76 to 72.
Teaser: A player, whose ball is in casual water, mistakes the casual water for a water hazard. He retrieves his ball, drops it 10 yards behind the casual water in accordance with the water hazard rule and plays it. His error is then discovered. What is the ruling?
Answer: The player did not follow the procedure prescribed in Rule 25-1b(i) for dropping a ball from casual water; he dropped the ball in a wrong place. In matchplay, he loses the hole (Rule 20-7a). In strokeplay, he incurs a penalty of two strokes - Rules 25-1b(i) and 20-7b.
