Close, but no cigar for Garcia

Win in major eludes Spaniard again

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICH. -- Another duel down the stretch. Another shot that hit a pin and kicked away. Another loss in a major championship.

Sergio Garcia has to be disappointed -- but don't ever suggest that to him.

He bristled when asked about his disappointment after finishing tied for second at the PGA Championship on Sunday, two shots behind Padraig Harrington.

"Why are you making this a disappointment?" he snapped at his questioner in the twilight glow outside Oakland Hills. "Obviously I was trying to win, but that's it. It's not disappointing."

Garcia says he does not brood about his defeats, even the three seconds in majors. He gives it his best, sees where he finishes and then heads home. Mission accomplished. Sort of.

But that's not the way most premier athletes think.

Garcia's decade in the spotlight has been measured by his close calls in the biggest tournaments.

He exploded on the world scene by challenging Tiger Woods as a callow 19-year-old at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah. He showed he was a marvelous shotmaker like his idol Seve Ballesteros.

Still, he finished second to Woods that year. In 2007 he lost to Harrington (again) at Carnoustie, having his heart broken when his shot to the 16th green in the playoff ricocheted off the base of the pin and ended up 18 feet away.

He also played in the last group at the British Open at Hoylake in 2006 before fading to a tie for fifth and, that same year, tied for third at the PGA, six shots back of Woods (again).

Things appeared to be going his way Sunday for the 28-year-old Spaniard.

"It was looking like it was his day," Harrington said.

Three shots defined Garcia's latest, uh, shortcoming.

Tied with Ben Curtis and a shot ahead of playing partner Harrington at the uphill, par-4 15th, his iron approach tracked the pin all the way, hitting it flush, sliding down the shaft, then glancing out of the cup and ending up 15 feet away. It was eerily reminiscent of what happened at Carnoustie, another bad break that could have turned things his way.

Then on the next hole, on a 6 iron to the green from 178 yards, he said, "I came out of it just a touch." The ball went right on a hole where the green is surrounded on three sides by a lake. The ball hit on a bank, clicked off a stone and ended up sinking to the bottom of the water, leading to a bogey and dropping him into a tie with Harrington.

Harrington stuck his 5-iron on the par-3 17th about 10 feet away. Garcia stuffed his 5-iron even closer. But Harrington rolled his putt in, while Garcia missed.

Another major lost.

"He's such a talented player that it's just a matter of time," Curtis said of Garcia.

No matter what Garcia says, this loss would be a major disappointment for anyone.