2011 a prolific year for Sergio Garcia as he ends a three-year long winless drought on European Tour
Spaniard Sergio Garcia is more than a happy man with his miraculous comeback at the end of the year 2011. After having reached the high of world number three on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) in 2008, Garcia played stunning golf all throughout the
year winning the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar at his home course, the Club de Campo del Mediterráneo in Castellón, Spain in October, 2008. He won the HSBC Champions the same year to surge to a career high of second on the OWGR. But that proved to be just
the beginning of the end for the swashbuckling Spaniard.
Winner of the 2008 Players Championship and later the HSBC Champions in November the same year, Garcia lurked in obscurity as he struggled with his form for the next three years. After his consecutive defeats and missing the cut in the 2010 PGA Championship,
Garcia announced that he will be taking a break from competitive golf in order to regain his once blistering form. He switched over to the infamous 'paintbrush' or 'saw' grip and immediately saw encouraging results. He threw himself in contention at both 2011
Transitions Championship and the 2011 Byron Nelson Championship but failed to pull it all the way in the final round.
His condition further plummeted to a new low as he suffered a devastating finger injury and missed several of the events through the rest of the year, falling to a low of 75 on the OWGR. Despite of his burgeoning injury, Garcia decided to make an attempt
to qualify for the US Open through the Qualifying School, which otherwise he could not have made because of his ranking. He pulled in an impressive joint seventh at Congressional and another impressive joint ninth in the Open Championship in July.
A rejuvenated Garcia, than decided to try his luck on his home turf where he was finally able to break his three-year winless drought with consecutive victories at Castelló Masters and the Andalucía Masters in Spain. The 31-year-old Garcia was awarded Race
to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Month Award for October.
“It is fantastic to see one of the great talents of European golf back where he belongs. This was a stellar month for European golfers all around the world but the most eye-catching performances came in Europe, from Sergio.” said Iain Carter, Golf Correspondent
of BBC Radio Five Live who was also on the panel of judges for the coveted award.
October will most definitely be Garcia’s favourite months as he has found most of victories in this month. He finished the year with gross earnings of €833,330 and is now poised at number 17 on the OWGR and seventh on Race to Dubai points table. Garcia also
made it into the nominations for the European Tour Golfer of the Year award alongside Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood.
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