For: Sergio García de la Fuente

Sergio García (born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings (over 250 weeks between 2000 and 2008). He reached a career high ranking of two after winning the HSBC Champions tournament in November 2008.

Career outline

García began playing golf at the age of three and was taught by his father, Vitor. He was a star player as a junior, winning his club championship at age 12. Four years later, he set a record as the youngest player to make the cut at a European Tour event, the 1995 Turespana Open Mediterranea. This record was broken by amateur Jason Hak in November 2008 at the UBS Hong Kong Open, beating García's record by 107 days. Also in 1995, García became the youngest player to win the European Amateur. In 1998, he won The Amateur Championship.

García turned professional in 1999 after shooting the lowest amateur score in the 1999 Masters Tournament. His first title on the European Tour came in his sixth start as a professional at the Irish Open. He first achieved worldwide prominence with a duel against Tiger Woods in the 1999 PGA Championship, where he eventually finished second. Late in the final round, García hit his most famed shot: with his ball up against a tree trunk and the green hidden from view, he swung hard with his eyes shut and hit a low curving fade that ran up onto the green. As the shot traveled, he sprinted madly into the fairway and then scissor-kick jumped to see the result. Shortly aferwards he became the youngest player ever to compete in the Ryder Cup.

When García first turned professional, he had an unorthodox swing with a loop and large lag, but during the 2003 season he worked towards making his swing more conventional. In his early years, he repeatedly gripped, released, and regripped his hands on the club handle before finally taking a shot. This "waggle" habit created a stir, especially at the 2002 U.S. Open when some galleries audibly counted the number of regrips into the twenties. Since then he has eliminated the habit. Responding to criticism of his swing, he said, "My swing works for me, so why should I change it? I prefer to have a natural swing and play well rather than a perfect swing and not be able to play good."

García won his first PGA Tour tournament at the 2001 MasterCard Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas and then won again at the Buick Classic the same year. In 2002, he won the Mercedes Championships, and in 2004, he won the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and the Buick Classic for the second time. His sixth PGA Tour victory came at the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. He also plays a limited schedule on the European Tour, where he has won nine times.

García was a member of the European Ryder Cup team in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008 and holds an impressive career record at the Ryder Cup of 14-3-3. As three of his appearances have resulted in overall victories, his input in the team has proved invaluable. He had risen into the top five of the Official World Golf Rankings, but after an inconsistent 2006 season, he dropped out of the top 10.