Sergio Garcia birdied the first extra hole in a sudden-death playoff against Retief Goosen to win his second Nedbank Golf Challenge title at the Gary Player Country Club. Garcia's other win at the event came in a playoff against Ernie Els two years ago. Few holes in golf can possibly mean so much to one man. The short 16th at the Gary Player Country Club has been the place where Garcia has pocketed a cool $3.2 million after two playoff wins over two South Africans in the Nedbank Challenge.
In 2001 he chipped in to beat Ernie Els at the first extra hole and claim the then $2 million winnerıs cheque. On Sunday it was Goosenıs turn to fall victim to the young Spaniardıs magnificent short game, as Garcia stroked in a birdie putt from 20 feet to claim $1.2 million. No one understood what the 16th hole meant to Garcia on Sunday more than Goosen, who shook Garciaıs hand, congratulated him and whispered ³You like this hole, donıt you?² It was a hard call on the likeable South African, but at the end of a year during which he has struggled making changes to his swing, Garcia deserved his moment. It was his first triumph since he won in Korea in August 2002 and there is a very real sense that it heralds a bumper year in 2004. "This game is all about confidence," said Garcia. There is, after all, nothing like a win to get the confidence going.
Garcia, who enjoys nothing more than a good night's jol, excudes confidence. How else does a player shoot a 66, as he did on Friday, after a night of heavy partying at the popular Traders Horns nightspot while most of the field were early to bed? Asked about "that big night" at Traders, Garcia responded: "What do you call a big night? A big night in Spain you come home at seven in the morning. That is a big night. I left Traders I think at 12:15 and I was sleeping at 12:30, plenty of sleep, nine hours." On Saturday night he was in party mode, albeit at a lower key, playing roulette with a lively entourage until beyond midnight and the 23-year-old's young fans cringed on Sunday when he shanked his approach shot for a bogey on the par-four first hole. Behind Goosen in third place was Vijay Singh, who unlike Els managed to put together four solid rounds of golf even after the exhausting Presidents Cup at Fancourt in George last week. Singh closed with a three-under-par 69 to be 11-under for the championship, while Els battled all week and finished with only Nick Price between him and the bottom of the pile. The defending champion was over par for the first time in his long history at the event and on Friday his 75 was the first round in 29 he'd played over par. Round of the day went to Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, a five-under 67 hoisting the Ulsterman into fourth place on his own ahead of American pair Jerry Kelly and Kenny Perry. Perry, who lead for the first two days and reached 11-under after 36 holes, was four-over par for the weekend.
