A new Tradition unlike any other....

After a weekend of great golf viewing I am sad to say that one thing has not changed, and never will about the game of golf: Sergio Garcia's bitching.

This weekend produced a pretty great Masters, Sunday's telecast was two tournaments in one. Tiger and Phil battling to scare the Be-Jesus out of anyone above them on the leaderboard, and once they finished with a stutter the leaders created some drama of their own.

Kenny Perry choked down the stretch, something that is painful to watch. As a golfer I have done it, not on that same stage, but I have choked when standing over a five dollar putt, or over a 80 yard wedge shot on the 18th of match-play. I choke a lot on the golf course. Most of us do. The thing about choking on the golf course is that every golfer has done it. We cannot really say the same about most sports that we play leisurely.

Choking in golf is supposed to happen, the game gets into your head. It is such a slow game, letting instincts take over is so hard. The time between shots makes you think too much. Kenny Perry let the moment take him over and he shot +3 on his last 4 holes of the tournament (including his two playoff holes). The great thing about both those Perry and Chad Campbell is they took it on the chin and congratulated Angel Cabrera, who won with a lot of guts and a lot of luck. Kenny Perry high fived him when he made his unreal par save from behind a massive tree on the first playoff hole. He applauded the shot and they went to the next playoff hole still battling.

You know who wouldn't have applauded? You know who would have been standing on the back of the green chomping at the bit to race to the next hole of the playoff? You know who would have never uttered the words, "I am not out here to root against anybody."(Kenny Perry's words after losing.) I will give you a second to think about it... ready? Okay here is that person...

Sergio Garcia...






As someone who spends 35 hours a week with 10 year olds, I can safely say they handle failure better than Garcia. He is such a disappointing figure. He handles failure and success like an eight year old. His antics at the Ryder Cup in 1999 were distracting and child-like, when the team blew an historic lead he was ready to pout about the American's behavior after he had spent two days running around and celebrating every good shot he hit.

After losing the British Open and PGA to the hands of an Irishman (Padraig Harrington) Garcia had nothing nice to say. He simply spoke about the bad breaks he got and the good breaks other players got (clearly talking about Harrington but never mentioning his name). He didn't mention the fact that he missed several key putts, or that he had a putt to win the tournament and missed it by a mile. He blames everyone else, he blames bad luck, he blames other player's good luck. Well on Sunday afternoon after scorching the golf course in rounds three and four with a 74 and 75 he decided to blame the wrong folks, the folks in the green jackets. Whoops...

Sergio decided to make like a wedge shot and back-up quite quickly. He issued an apology after realizing that this blame-bomb could blow up right in his face. Its one thing to blame the golf gods, its another to blame Augusta National. Here is what El Nino had to share after his 75:

"I don't like it, to tell you the truth. I don't think it is fair. Even when it's dry you still get mud balls in the middle of the fairway. It's too much of a guessing game."

Ah the old guessing game. I guess it wasn't a guessing game for Cabrera and Perry and Campbell who beat him by 13 shots... but I am just guessin'.

Sergio's behavior has attracted some hatred around the game of golf. US Open fans at Bethpage counted outloud his "waggles" every time he was over the ball. He drew the ire of the fans after he complained that the rainy round on Friday would have been cancelled had Tiger been out during the heaviest rain. Instead Sergio was left to trudge through the rain and then complain...I wonder what his reception will be in June at Bethpage for this year's US Open?

All in all Sergio is a very talented player. I find him to be fun to watch, and at times I get sucked in and hope he can make it over the hump. After his disappointments I find myself turned off by him and his complaints. At this point I see myself reacting to him winning a major the same way I react to kids throwing a tantrum in a store and getting that coveted toy... They always get what they want...which is too bad.