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Sergio Garcia has won and lost THE PLAYERS at the infamous par-3 17th at TPC Sawgrass, creating a love-hate relationship with the island green. In Thursday’s opening round he added to the love side of the equation, making the eighth ace on the hole in the history of the tournament. Garcia guided his 52-degree wedge expertly towards the pin, spinning the ball slightly back into the cup much to the delight of the late afternoon crowd. “It was nice to see it bounce and kind of spin back into the hole,” he said with a smile. “It is tricky. It’s not easy. It’s probably one of the hardest 125- or 140-yard shots that we get all year with the greens being firm like they are.” In 2008 Garcia entered a playoff with Paul Goydos and watched as the American rinsed his tee shot in the water. Knowing a good shot would lock up a signature win he took dead aim and stiffed his shot to within a few feet at the dangerous Sunday pin. Trophy secured. But then there is the hate. He has six career balls in the water but it was 2013, when he dunked the ball into the drink twice on Sunday, that the affair turned sour. Tied for the lead with Tiger Woods at the time Garcia walked off with a quadruple bogey 7, stealing away any chance he had of downing his longtime rival. The newly minted Masters Tournament champion has resurrected his stat line at the hole in the last three years, now having played it in a cumulative 6 under on his last 13 tries. The ace came at a good time, given the leading THE PLAYERS money winner was 3 over on his round at the time. It was the second ace of Garcia’s PGA TOUR career. “I needed it after the start I had. It kind of made quite a poor round into – not a great round but a decent round,” he said. After posting his 1-over 73 the Spaniard sits six off the pace, but put a positive spin on the number given it was his first competitive round since donning the Green Jacket. “I felt like I was a little bit up in the clouds, and when I woke up, I was 4 over after 6,” Garcia admitted. “That didn’t help, but then I started hitting better shots, started hitting better putts, and at least we were able to salvage a round there at the end that if we have a good day tomorrow, we still have a solid chance going into the weekend. “Tomorrow I want to come out there, concentrate like I should, and if I can manage to shoot 4 or 5 under tomorrow, I’m still going to have a great chance. An under-par round tomorrow will be key to get back in it.”

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HONOLULU, Hawaii – Blayne Barber’s caddy Cory Gilmer is in an intensive care unit at a local Hawaiian hospital after collapsing and hitting his head in Waikiki last night. Gilmer was out some fellow caddies in downtown Waikiki after finishing dinner with Barber when he is said to have collapsed while sitting on a high-top chair, hitting his head hard on the ground in the process. He was rushed to hospital with swelling around the brain and has been unresponsive for the night and most of the morning. Barber rushed to Gilmer’s side as soon as he heard the news. “By the time I got there, he was unconscious, and the paramedics were there. Then I went to the hospital with him last night. And he’s pretty much just been unresponsive since then,â€� he explained. “He’s in the neurological ICU, a lot of bleeding and swelling in his brain. So, I went by this morning, and that was kind of the last update I had. He’s in pretty critical condition. His parents are flying in tomorrow.â€� To make matters worse Barber was caught up in the false alarm regarding a missile strike in Hawaii when he returned to the hospital in the morning, forcing him to head to lower ground. He returned to Waialae Country Club to play the third round with his brother Shayne on the bag, hoping the golf would take his mind off things. But the emotions got the better of him as he shot a 2-over 72 – dropping him to T68. Barber had considered withdrawing from the event but ultimately decided to play on given there was little he could do. “I’ve been gone from my kids and my wife for ten days, and between that happening to Cory and then just the emotions of facing your own mortality in that moment, it’s just been a heavy day for sure,â€� he said emotionally. “It certainly wiped me out. I was kind of out of it all day, just trying to push through and have something to concentrate on, but it was hard to focus on any of that. “I slept about three hours. That was about the hardest day of golf I’ve ever played.â€� Doctors were trying to contain the swelling medicinally overnight and had not yet taken a surgical route in his recovery. Barber said there was nothing he was aware of in Gilmer’s medical history that would be prone to him collapsing. “Seizures was mentioned (by some in attendance to the collapse), but as far as I know, he collapsed, and the head trauma is the issue,â€� Barber said. “We don’t know why he collapsed. I mean, he could have been dehydrated or any number of things. I don’t think there’s any necessarily clear answers at the moment.â€�

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