TGL midseason superlatives: Tom Kim brings the energy, rule changes promise heightened competition

JACKSON, Miss. - All week the focus was on his eyes. Every time Sergio Garcia stroked a putt, the cameras showed a battle-scarred 40-year-old who had missed so many over his career he'd seen enough. Perhaps, he reasoned, the seeing itself was the problem. Why watch? There was no upside. He led his lids fall, trusted the stroke, and when the last putt fell, a kick-in birdie on 18 to beat Peter Malnati by one, those eyes filled with tears. RELATED: Final leaderboard | The clubs Garcia used to win | Why Garcia putts with eyes closed It was his first victory on TOUR since the 2017 Masters, and the first since he became a father, first to 2-year-old Azalea and then to 6-month-old Enzo. More than his putting woes, or his so-called slump - he won on the European Tour just over a year ago - he thought of family. He especially thought of the two uncles he lost to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "My father has a lot of family in Madrid," Garcia said. "He’s one of nine siblings, and unfortunately we lost two of his brothers because of COVID, one at the beginning, Uncle Paco, and one just last Saturday actually - not yesterday but the Saturday before, Uncle Angel. "You know, it’s sad," he continued. "It’s sad. And I know that a lot of families have lost a lot more people, but you never want to lose anyone like that, and I wanted to win this for them." Sometimes golf is hard just because it's hard. And sometimes life just gets in the way. Garcia had never played the Sanderson Farms, and it was hard to know what to make of him, especially the eyes-wide-shut putting. He was a 10-time TOUR winner, but he hadn't won since the 2017 Masters. He'd missed three of his previous four cuts on TOUR, had fallen out of the world top 50, and was coming off a season in which he recorded just one top-25 finish. To put that in perspective, he had never recorded fewer than four top-25s in 21 previous TOUR seasons, and missed the Playoffs for just the second time in the FedExCup era. Two shots stood out Sunday: His 5-wood second shot that trundled up to within four feet of the pin for eagle, and his 8-iron approach on 18, which set up a 30-inch birdie. The ball-striking that has defined his career took center stage at Country Club of Jackson, as Garcia was first in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, and driving distance. Although he was only 28th in Strokes Gained: Putting, he was in positive numbers all four days. His unusual putting, which he said he's been doing for the last three-plus years, is working. "I was believing in myself the whole week," said Garcia, who moved to fourth in the FedExCup just three events into the new season. "I obviously hit a bad putt on six for par, but I stuck with it, I kept going, I kept believing, I kept telling myself you’re doing great, just keep doing what you’re doing, it’s great. You’re not going to make every single putt." He is asked incessantly about the closed eyes, and it would be easy to have doubts. As one reporter here pointed out, it looks not just odd but like the act of a desperate man. But Garcia and his wife Angela talked about it and agreed: If he didn't commit to something and really give it a chance, the odds were remote that he was ever going to settle into a groove on the greens. His experience tuning out the doubters, all those people who harped on his inability to win a major, served him well. Now he's peaking again with another Masters only a month away. "Well, it’s obviously a boost of confidence, there’s no doubt," Garcia said. "Even if I would have not won it, it still would have been a massive high for me this week. To be able to do a lot of the things that I did, it meant a lot. It showed me a lot of what I still have, and what I still can do."

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Heavy rainfall has saturated the course at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, and after tee times were pushed back five hours and then two hours, play was finally called for the day without a shot being hit at 1 p.m. Thursday. Players and officials will try again Friday, with the possibility of a Monday finish looming. “The bottom line is we just don’t have a golf course that’s playable,� said PGA TOUR Senior Vice President of Rules & Competition Slugger White. “We’ve got situations out there where we could lose balls in areas that we have no virtual certainty where it was. There’s so many scenarios out there that just don’t fit making an effort.� The last time rain canceled an entire round without a shot being hit was the second round of the recent ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, won by Tiger Woods. The last time it scuttled the opening round without a shot being hit was the 2013 Sentry Tournament of Champions. This is the sixth year in which rain has delayed play at Mayakoba’s El Camaleon Golf Club, where the tournament began in 2007. The last suspension was in 2017, when Patton Kizzire won after delays of two hours and 15 minutes Friday and five hours and 10 minutes Saturday.  The weather forecast for Friday is not much better, which could make for a jam-packed weekend once the rain clears. “Yes, sir,� White said, when asked if officials would go to Monday if necessary. The course has taken 8.5 inches of rain this week, and was already saturated from rain last week. “Nothing’s draining,� White said. “Everything always drains to the mangroves here, and there’s no place for it to go with that much rain.� 

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