FanHouse

Sergio Garcia is much more likable when he wins. Last summer, he blamed everybody but himself for the British Open implosion, and he's had a history of being particularly whiny about his golf game. No such problem yesterday.

Garcia made possibly the biggest putt of his non-Ryder Cup career, when he drained a seven-footer for par on the 72nd hole. He joined journeyman Paul Goydos in a playoff, and Garcia promptly stiffed his tee shot on the first hole (the "gimmicky" 17th; apparently, Ernie Els hadn't got around to blowing it up), while Goydos found the water.

So nine years after Garcia was thrust upon us at the 1999 PGA Championship, he finally gets around to winning his first major. Sure, it's not an official major, but most people consider The Players Championship the "fifth major." I'm counting it, and I'm guessing Sergio is too.

During the awards ceremony, Garcia even found a sense of humor. As Bob Costas interviewed him about "what this victory means, blah, blah, blah," Garcia prefaced his response with an acknowledgment most tournament champions must have go through their head at some point (around the :35-second mark): "First of all, I want to thank Tiger for not being here."

Kind of a cool moment, but I have this vision of Woods walking past his 60-inch plasma television, catching Garcia's half-joke, and thinking, "yep, I've still got these guys right where I want them."