Sergio Garcia's Putter Finally Comes Through in the Clutch

Lip-outs? That was sooo 2007 British Open! Bad decision-making? That was sooo 2008 PGA Championship!

This is the new Sergio Garcia, the one that channels Gary Player when he wears all black on Sundays (think Players, PGA, HSBC, etc.). This is also the new Sergio Garcia that made all the right decision en-route to winning the HSBC Championship on Nov. 10.

Over the past 10 years, the golfing world has watched Sergio evolve from a rising star, a threat to Tiger Woods, to the second-ranked player in the world.

Along the way, Garcia has had a multitude of painful stops along the way. We've watched him battle a balky putter as well as battle fans and golfing gods and so on.

It was only a little over a year ago, that Garcia missed the eight-foot putt that would have won him the 2007 British Open. I watched at home as the putt looked perfect for the entire time before it hit the lip and failed to find the bottom of the cup.

He then fell apart against Padraig Harrington in the playoff, even watching his perfectly struck tee shot bound off the flag and roll some 30 feet away. It could have just as easily dropped in for a hole-in-one.

When it was all said and done, Garcia had a lot of blame to give away:

• Blaming the attendants for taking too long to rake the bunker on 18 before he hit his shot into one.
• Blaming the golfing gods for not giving him the bounces (does he not count Harrington hitting into the water twice on 18?).
• But never placing the blame on himself.

However, when his second shot found the water on the 16th hole at the PGA Championship, he no longer had anyone to blame but himself. That and his putter. This guy could not make a putt to save his life, especially when an individual win was on the line (obviously, the guy can make it from 50 feet away when he is playing in the Ryder Cup).

Finally, Garcia has ditched the old-man belly putter in favor of a Rossa putter that is more similar to the one of his youth. With his new found confidence in the flat stick (and his channeling of Gary Player), Garcia finished 2008 with a flurry of stellar performances.

To top off the 2008 season and kick start the 2009 season, Garcia faced down a solid field at the HSBC Championship.

Using his excellent ball-striking and much improved putting stroke, Garcia finished solidly, even making putts to keep himself in the heat of battle.

On 18, he forced the playoff by making a five-foot birdie putt. Then, on the second playoff hole, he made a seven-foot birdie to win the tournament.

In years past, those balls would have hung on the outside looking in, and Garcia would have had someone else to blame. Now, those putts are finding the bottom of the cup, and Garcia can thank his putter.

Let's hope for that kind of putting in 2009.