Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Sergio Garcia Edition

Well, the Wyndham Championship has concluded in Greensboro, with Ryan Moore winning in a three-way playoff over Kevin Stadler, and Jason Bohn. Bohn was eliminated after the first playoff hole, while Moore finally took advantage on the third playoff hole after an errant tee shot by Stadler.

The win was the first of Moore’s PGA career, and simply put, he made the shots he had to make to win the championship. Though Bohn shot an unbelievable 8-under for the final round, Moore’s final round of 65 gave him a shot in the playoff, and he was able to close the deal by knocking down a birdie on the final playoff hole.

While it was a good ending for Moore and the other two guys earning their spot in the playoff, I doubt Sergio Garcia is looking at it in the same way right now.

Sure, he had rounds of 67, 64, and 64 the first three days, but the 70 that he shot today to finish at 15-under will be what he remembers most.

Oh, and he’ll probably remember that chip shot out of the bunker on 18 that would have put him in the playoff. Ya know, the one that landed one inch short of the hole.

For a guy that has seen his fair share of heartbreaks over the years, this certainly wasn’t one that he wanted to add to his list. At one point earlier today, Garcia was at 18-under par, and feeling like he was in great position to win the championship.

Then came the bogey at the 8th. And the bogeys at the 11th and 12th holes. He couldn’t get his putting to help him out down the stretch and had to settle for par on the final six holes of the day. Everyone else made shots they needed to make, and Garcia was left wondering what might of have been…..yet again.

While the majors have been his achilles heel so-to-speak, that was not the case here. This was an event in which most of the top players in the world were sitting at home watching on TV. This was his chance to win, and do it without Tiger, Phil, or Paddy anywhere in sight.

I know Sergio gets a lot of grief for the fans, and most of that is probably warranted given some of his actions over the years, but boy was it hard to watch that chip shot stop so close to the hole at the end. It was kind of like you expected that sort of thing to happen to him. He’s not my favorite golfer in the world, but what a disappointing finish today for him.

Here’s a few notables:

Fred Couples, Brandt Snedeker, Justin Rose -14

Steve Marino -13

Chris Riley -11

Jeev Milka Singh -10

David Toms, Lucas Glover (even par today) -9

The full leaderboard over at Golf.com.

- And the JELD-WEN Tradition also went to a playoff today, with Mike Reid defeating John Cook on the first hole of the playoff to win the tournament. Reid shot a 3-under par today to finish at 16-under, while Cook shot 4-under for the final round. Meanwhile, Brad Bryant struggled to 1-over par today, which put him out of contention. The trio of Tom Watson, Fred Funk, and Loren Roberts all finished at 11-under for the week.

Here’s the final leadboard at Golf.com.

It’s been a great week of golf, with all the excitement at the Solheim Cup, and playoffs at the Wyndham and JELD-WEN.

Let me hear your thoughts on the action this weekend!