Around the wider world of golf: Rory McIlroy got off the schnide by winning the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open on the ET; Ariya Jutanugarn got her second LPGA win of the season at the Kingsmill Championship; Laura Wearn won the Gosling’s Dark ‘n Stormy® Classic on the Symetra Tour; Byung-Min Cho won the Kansai Open Golf Championship on the Japan Golf Tour; Bernhard Langer won the Regions Tradition, the first Champions Tour major of the year; Richy Werenski won the BMW Charity Pro-Am on the Web.com Tour; and Sebastian Vazquez won the 58 Abierto Mexicano de Golf on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.
This was the week for top players to complain about how bad their games were. I couldn't help but think about how Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka, despite leading the AT&T Byron Nelson, seemed determined to talk themselves out of playing acceptable golf. Jordan clearly got in his own head by the end of the round, and Brooks simply kept trying to hit shots that were giving him problems.
And then there was Sergio Garcia, who sometimes seems as stormy as his El Niño namesake. He said that his game wasn't at its best, but he just kept plugging along and managing his game as best as he could. And there was no better example of that than the playoff. While Brooks stepped up and blasted his tee shot into the water, Sergio made sure he hit a drive in the fairway, played to the safe side of the green, and two-putted for the win.
Sergio's joy at winning again was evident. And the crowds seemed to enjoy it as well, despite their clear support for Jordan.
Jason Sobel wrote an interesting article about Sergio's win for ESPN's website. He said this win might become a blueprint for Sergio's future, because it appears Sergio has realized that winning isn't everything:
"I guess nowadays I also realize that, obviously, winning is amazing; it's great, it's an unbelievable feeling, but it's not the only thing in the world," he said. "There's so many other things that you can do to help people other than hitting the golf ball."
In these moments, just after the victory, he became reflective. Even philosophical.
"When I'm out there, I'm trying my hardest, but if it doesn't come out, I try to take it as the best way possible. Some weeks are better than others, but, you know, I tried."I certainly hope Sobel's right. Sometimes I think people with a lot of talent labor under unrealistic burdens, simply because the key to success often has nothing to do with the talents themselves. And learning those 'keys' often takes much longer than expected. Extremely talented people are often the tragic stories, while those who are less talented -- and from whom less is expected -- are given the freedom to fail without being judged.
After all, they weren't supposed to succeed. And because of that, they are given the time necessary to learn how to win.
For Sergio, realizing that majors aren't the be-all and end-all of life may be the very key that frees him up to win one. And if not, he's not doomed to misery. I've felt for some time that Sergio may be like Vijay Singh, who did most of his winning during his 40s. I think that, by then, the external pressure to win that Sergio feels -- and that he has internalized -- may be gone because no one will expect anything then.
In the meantime, I'm thrilled that he got back in the winner's column this week... and that I got to write a new Limerick Summary for him. After all, it's been a while since I had the chance:
The fans came to cheer and applaud,The photo came from this page at espn.go.com.
But their faves claimed their games were too flawed
And drove balls in the muck.
That’s when El Niño struck!
His game management left the crowds awed.
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