Not so long ago, Sergio García (PAR) would have left the clubhouse at Pinehurst on this Friday with a bittersweet feeling and a rather twisted expression. He would have valued his top 20, five strokes behind the leader Ludvig Aberg (-5), with 36 holes to go, but not much, and above all he would be lamenting the double bogey on hole 2, as well as his bad luck with the bushes, oh the damn bushes that cunningly protect the fairways of the coliseum of North Carolina.
These were times when Sergio, even in victories, found it hard to enjoy on the golf course. A perfectionist to the extreme and self-demanding like few others, he rarely finished a round of golf happy. He remembered the bad, put it first, punished himself even, and glossed over all the good. Today, with 44 years behind him, 99 Majors and 25 US Opens, he begins to see golf… and life in a different way. This Friday he has enjoyed. He has been moved and he has valued it.
“You start to realise as you get older what it means to be here, you appreciate it much more. I’ve played a lot of Majors and now that what I have is more complicated I realise how difficult it is and I value it much more. It’s a great achievement and I’m very proud to be here and have made the cut after 99 Majors,” he explains, genuinely moved.
García admits that he has been working for some time to be happier on the golf course. “I’m trying to enjoy a little more. I’m very perfectionist and I like to demand a lot from myself, but we have to realise, and I’m working on it psychologically, that we are human and we make mistakes, and we make bogeys and double bogeys. The important thing is to keep fighting and maybe that’s when the birdies come,” he explains.
Today he did it. Right after the painful double bogey on hole 2, he pulled out a great birdie on the 3rd, being aggressive (more than yesterday), to leave it a metre from the flag. He was also aggressive on the 7th and hit a great shot to four metres. Birdie. Not even the bogey on the 8th, after missing the fairway, spoiled his day. In fact, he immediately hit another great shot on the 9th to close the round with the highlight of Francesco Molinari who, playing with him, made a hole in one on the last to just make the cut. These are the good things that happen when the energy is positive.
This is another version of Sergio García, more positive, more human and, certainly, more dangerous for everyone if he manages to maintain it over time, even when worse times come. If he manages to extend his good play and that same attitude over the weekend he can still give more than one scare to those above. Today he shot 71, one over par, with some more difficulty from the tee, but great control over his irons and putting with determination and a lot of composure.
With all this, Sergio has broken another record this Friday. He has become the European player who has made the most cuts in the US Open. Specifically, there are already 20 weekends in the toughest Major of all. Hats off to the man from Borriol.
