CHARLOTTE – All that remains for Sergio Garcia at this week’s Wachovia Championship is the coronation.
Barring a significant collapse by the 25-year-old Spaniard, by dinnertime tonight he’ll be handed the winner’s check for $1.08 million for his first victory of 2005.
The day for Garcia, who’s led from wire-to-wire, was very much a microcosm of the entire tournament week in that he held the lead and methodically increased it.
Garcia’s 5-under-par third round 67 yesterday at the Quail Hollow Club, which has him at 12-under for the week, put him in position to storm to victory with a mere mediocre final round today with Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and D.J. Trahan six shots behind at 6-under.
“Sergio is playing a different golf course than the rest of us,” Nick Price, who’s 5-under, said. “He’s lapping the field. The golf tournament is in his hands. He’s going to be hard to catch. I figured at the beginning of the week 10-under would win and Sergio is already there.”
Trahan, a Clemson graduate and rookie on the PGA Tour, was tied with Garcia at around the turn only to watch Garcia surge ahead to what appears to be an insurmountable lead.
“Obviously, the guy is hitting the ball well and he’s got to be making putts,” Trahan said. “I helped [Garcia increase his lead] with a couple of bogeys [on Nos. 11, 14 and 17], but he was obviously making birdies. For somebody to get up on Sergio [today] as well as he’s playing you’re going to have to go out and shoot 7 or 8-under, and on this golf course that’s saying a lot.
“I mean, look at the scores. The guy has a six-shot lead. You would definitely need to get some heat on him early. Unless he runs into trouble it’s going to be hard to catch him.”
Garcia, who got off to a good start with a birdie on No. 1, pulled away with birdies on Nos. 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15, turning this into a one-horse race.
“Obviously, it’s going to be tough to catch him,” Furyk said. “He’s playing a little bit different golf than anyone else. The golf tournament is obviously in his hands. Right now, he’s going to determine who the winner is.”
Garcia, won the 2001 Buick Classic at Westchester Country Club and the 2004 Byron Nelson after leading through three rounds, was cautiously optimistic about his chances today.
“It would be great [to win], but it’s not finished,” he said. “I’ve still got to do it [today]. If I start thinking about it before it happens, punch me in the face. I’ve got to treat it as one more round and do the same things I’ve been doing. I mean, they’ve worked until now, why change them?”
Garcia’s putter has been his downfall in recent tournaments. This week, he ranks fourth in the tournament with 82 total putts, 27 yesterday.
Aside from Singh, the top-ranked players made no move yesterday with both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson shooting 73. Woods is 1-under for the tournament and Mickelson is 1-over.
“I just hope to post a good number and get some help,” Woods said, typically never conceding defeat. “I need to take care of my own business.”
