I am sure you have all seen it now......... Sergio finally breaking the hoodoo of one of the players to be classed as 'Best players never to have won a Major'. It haunted Colin Montgomerie, it's haunting Lee Westwood, it continues to haunt the likes of Luke Donald and Ian Poulter, players who have won multiple times, won millions of Dollars on Tour but never quite captured one of the 4 tournaments that matter the most to the elite of the game.
Step into the limelight Sergio Garcia. Last Sunday was his day at arguably the finest major of all.... The Masters.
In my opinion, a very well deserved victory to a guy who has given us that Spanish passion in Ryder Cups, multiple wins in all corners of the world and the aggressive play that has won the hearts of so many golfers.
However, is this major victory a turn for the worse for Sergio and his future on the course?
No doubt about it. Winning a major is a huge stepping stone. The riches, acknowledgements and publicity a player gets for the rest of their life after winning one of the big 4 is non-negotiable. No one can take that away from you. Whether you win one or 18, you are classed upon as being a part of the upper echelons of the game and the honour is bestowed upon you.
But what about a first time major winners future prospects on the course? Will they go on to win more (as a lot are predicting for Sergio) because of that 'major hoodoo' that's been well and truly broken or is he going to be a 'one major wonder'?
“FEAR FOR SERGIO”
Surely he can go on to win more.........can he?
Well possibly not. My fear for Sergio is this.
He has waited so long (73 events to be exact) and has been a 'nearly' man on a number of occasions. Finishing second 4 times, third twice and fourth twice, he has never quite crossed the line until last Sunday.
In those years since his first Major as a professional, The US PGA Championship in 1999 and that famous duel against a certain Mr T.Woods at his peak, he has worked year upon year to attempt to break his duck to claim that elusive major.
After a lot of blood, sweat and plenty of tears, he has finally done it. But now what???
He has achieved his goal with the victory against Rose in the play off. He slipped on the green jacket and will go down in golfing folklore forever.
But once you have achieved a goal you have worked nearly all your life for, what happens next?
For some, once they have achieved that major victory, it's the end of the road. They give up doing what got them to that place. They give up on the hard work and intense effort that got them there because they have finally reached the top rung of the ladder.
Look at Leicester City in the English Premier League. A team that were 5000/1 shots to win arguably the biggest football league in Europe. Bookies said there was more chance of Elvis being seen alive! You know what, they went and won it. But look at them this season. They have kept pretty much the same team but this year has seen them flirt with relegation and the sacking of the manager who produced the unthinkable. Why this sudden and dramatic drop in form? They have failed to do the things and gain the motivation they had last season. Their egos got the better of them with the thought they were top of the pile so they don't have to try anymore!
Take the case of Ian Baker Finch, who famously won the 1991 Open at Royal Birkdale. A great player at the time but an outsider to win. He achieved his dream of winning a major and followed it up the year after with a respectable tied 19th position. However, he will also be remembered as the player who missed the widest fairway in golf........ first tee shot at St Andrews, 1995, hooked out of bounds. The fairway is 129 yards wide! In 1995/96, in the 29 events that he played on the PGA Tour, he withdrew after one round or was disqualified. His game had deserted him!
But why was this? Did he just give up?
Well, I guess in a way he did. He stopped doing the things that got him that major victory, the hard work and practice and, with the gaze of the golfing public on him after his win, the sense of pressure got too great which rendered him unable to hit a golf ball sweet and straight.
There are a few other (less extreme) examples to:
Keegan Bradley......... Won the US PGA in 2011 and was deemed one of the upcoming stars to win multiple majors. Never really shown the form since.
Shaun Micheel.......... US PGA Champion from 2003. It was his only PGA Tour win.
Rich Beem............US PGA Champion in 2002, beating Tiger by one and then made just 9 cuts in his next 30 major championships.
Lucas Glover........... Won the US Open in 2009. Been seen on the PGA Tour lately after an injury lay off.
The list goes on.
I'm not trying to create this article to be negative, far from it. I am simply pointing out what makes a golfer tick and what demotivates a golfer from working hard to be the best they can be and what you can do to learn from it.
And that has happened for so many major champions. They have reached their goal, one of the big 4! But then that motivation starts to wane as they have nowhere else to go. Nothing beats that feeling, apart from being World Number one of course but even then the greats who reached number one in the world who don't have a major, Lee Westwood for example, will tell you they would easily swap that number one tag to hold one of the 4 trophies that matter so much.
I really hope that Sergio doesn't enter the undergrowth of the golfing wilderness and lose the motivation that got him to where he is now he has received the holy grail.
Don't let it happen Sergio. Don't let a large ego get the better of you and keep that fire blazing for more majors please. The golf world needs a Sergio Garcia!