Say this for Sergio Garcia -- he picks his spots.
When he was asked this past weekend about the 2008 Ryder Cup -- you remember, that Cup where a bunch of scrappy Americans waxed the highly favored European squad -- Sergio had an easy answer for why the U.S. romped. The reason: no Tiger.
"Tiger's absence made a difference," Garcia said. "It made some of the other players step it up. They wanted to show everyone they could win without Tiger. Maybe when he's there, he's the leader and everyone falls in behind him. Without him, everyone wanted to be the leader. They played amazing golf. You could see a different energy in the team."
Garcia will get grief for those comments, but for the record, I agree with him. Everybody tends to let Tiger do his thing in these competitions, and hope that he can carry the whole team to a win. But Corey Pavin, 2010 captain, doesn't hold that view.
"The perception is that having Tiger in the team can cause problems internally," he said. "The perception is wrong. I watched him in 2006 and walked every step of the way with him the first two days of the matches. I looked into his eyes and I could see how much he wanted to win."
I don't think that Tiger causes problems internally; he's just the alpha dog and everybody bows down to him, even those on his own team. While it's no guarantee that he won't play, the U.S. has to proceed as if he'll be without them -- and judging from 2008, they'll be just fine.
Sergio, meanwhile, is talking tough without Tiger around. It'll be interesting to see if Tiger exacts his brand of revenge on Garcia. Add him to the list ...
This content was originally posted here: http://www.jondye.com/blogs/post/2010/01/26/Sergio-Garcia-talkin-tough-when-Tigers-not-around.aspx
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RickAhlert
February 2, 2010 Sergio's opinion is just that his opinion.....not worth much in my eyes.....When he stops whining and finally buckles up his draws and plays (wins) on a big stage he made get more value until then oh well! |
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aumurray
February 2, 2010 The US might be a better team without Tiger from a rally standpoint. Though in the 09 Presidents Cup Tiger played a great team player role in the victory. Why would you not want the best player on your team? As long as the chemistry of team is at work I think they can park their individual egos long enough to have fun as a team. |
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wspontour
February 1, 2010 Sergio should try winning a tournament of note, Ryder Cup is great but major winners are the ones remembered |
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sweetswing17
January 29, 2010 I think anytime you make comments like that off the course you are just trying to get into the other guys, or teams head! I doubt very seriously if that will work with Tiger or any of the United States players. |
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SH0E
January 29, 2010 Sergio is the drunk guy at the "meet the family" dinner that drinks too much and says the things that make you want to crawl under a rug....or stuff him under one. |
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jerome007
January 29, 2010 I agree with Sergio , Without Tiger the team did step-up . |
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lrmonroe
January 29, 2010 so, what's the question here? The Americans can or can not win without Tiger. Oh, yeah. They can. It's not all about having Tiger on the team. US won in 08 and can possibly win this year and most likely without Tiger. So, Sergio's excuse for losing the Ryder was--no Tiger. That makes no sense. I seem to remember A.K opening the can of whop a** on Sergio. I will say that I agree with the "players stepping up" and surely made the 08 season interesting to see who broke through. This year will see more players "step it up" and see who stomps who at the Ryder Cup. GO U.S.!! |
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memike
January 28, 2010 Sergio just put the rope around his own neck....When Tiger comes back he will surely pull the chair from beneath Sergio's feet! |
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bigal2039
January 28, 2010 sergio stop runing your mouth |
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cogolfer1
January 27, 2010 I agree with Sergio on this. Tiger puts a lot more pressure on players when he's in the mix. If Y.E Yang was in the final group with either Tiger or John Rollins, who would scare him more? Now that is a major not a team event but when Tiger has played in Ryder Cup's he has won 1 out of 5 times. That one time never should have been a win because it was a comeback victory for the ages but it still counts. Tiger has won a lot of President's Cups but Americans won't lose sleep if the Internationals beat the U.S on the 18th hole rather than the Euros. I personally like Sergio because he speaks his mind and is one of the most honest(maybe a little too honest) in the entire world. Is he a crybaby? Yeah. We all remember his press conference at Carnoustie and his complaints about Augusta, but I think Sergio is 100% correct on this. |
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ScottSorrell
January 27, 2010 I didnt know he still played golf. What a loser. --Scott |
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mojo69
January 27, 2010 Sergio is laying the groundwork for his next big choke. |
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72Wannabe
January 27, 2010 Sergio needs to win more before he starts talking smack! |
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Duckhunter
January 26, 2010 I think Sergio is a jerk with or without Tiger. I don't wish him any bad luck, I so smile when it happens. |
