Harrington continued his recent dominance on golf's grandest stages, securing his second major of the season with a pair of 66's at Oakland Hills on Sunday to claim the PGA Championship. After shattering the dreams of Greg Norman at Royal Birkdale with a back-nine 32, the Irishman repeated the feat on Sunday with the same score in the final nine holes to erase a three-shot defecit at the turn. Harrington made three huge putts on 16, 17, and 18 to steal the win from Garcia and become only the fourth player in history to win both the British and PGA in the same season. He also ended the 78-year drought for Euros at the PGA.
I've always argued that Padraig Harrington is as talented a golfer as Tiger Woods. And I still believe that. Woods just has an incredible ability to manage his emotions on the golf course moreso than any other competitor. However, with Harrington winning both the British and PGA, gold fans should be very intrigued by the possibility of future head-to-head battles in majors between the Irishman and Woods. Too bad Paddy's cousin Joey didn't have even a fraction of his mettle.
Although he fell short again in his quest for his first major championship, Sergio Garcia made strides this week.
After posting rounds of 69 and 68 on an elongated final day on Sunday, Garcia went a long way towards quieting those who have criticized him for not yet winning a major. Anybody who watched Garcia on the course Sunday, specifically his naysayers, saw a more relaxed and balanced Garcia stalking his first major championship. Despite hitting into the water on 16, he battled back and was still in contention. But the killer was missing a four-foot birdie putt on 17. Garcia's putting, despite improvement in the last few years, remains a bit of an Achille's heel. If he continues to work on that area of his game, Garcia will be standing tall on a Sunday late afternoon in a major championship. Remember, it took Phil Mickelson awhile to grab his first major. It's just unfair to compare Garcia with Tiger.
Garcia will take his refined game onto the Ryder Cup, where he will be depended upon to help the Europeans retain world dominance. On an individual level, Garcia has clearly matured as a professional. Expect the Spaniard to make even more strides in 2009, especially if his putting continues to shine as it did this weekend.
I would normally take this time to scold NBC Sports' Dan Hicks for his outrageous reaction to Jason Lezak's performace in snagging the gold for the American 400 free relay team. But the Lezak story is too incredible to even rip. How did he swim one full second faster in those 100 meters than he ever had before? And at age 32? He was behind Alain Bernard, the Frenchman and world record holder in the 100 free, as they went head-to-head in the final leg, yet somehow managed to drum up enough adrenaline to prevent the French team from "smashing" the Americans as they had predicted. Michael Phelps, you owe Lezak steak dinners for life.
A quick college pigskin note: UCLA's quarterback problems continue, as Ben Olson suffered a broken bone in his right foot during practice on Saturday and is expected to miss two months of action. I loved the Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow hirings, but don't be surprised if the Bruins finish 6-6 or 7-5 as offensive line and QB problems may plague the team all season.
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