I see the double posting has not ceased,,,,,,,, "Red Wine" ?????

Right color for the season

True,,,

Sergio García (born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings (over 250 weeks between 2000 and 2008). He reached a career high ranking of two after winning the HSBC Champions tournament in November 2008.

García began playing golf at the age of three, taught by his father, Vitor. He was a star player as a junior, winning his club championship at age twelve. Four years later, he set a record as the youngest player to make the cut at a European Tour event, the 1995 Turespana Open Mediterranea. This record has now been overturned by amateur Jason Hak in November 2008 at the UBS Hong Kong Open, beating García's record by 107 days. Also in 1995, García became the youngest player to win the European Amateur. In 1998, he won the British Amateur.

García turned professional in 1999 after shooting the lowest amateur score in the 1999 Masters Tournament. His first title on the European Tour came in his sixth start as a professional at the Irish Open. He first achieved worldwide prominence with a duel against Tiger Woods in the 1999 PGA Championship, where he eventually finished second. Late in the final round, García hit his most famed shot: with his ball up against a tree trunk and the green hidden from view, he swung hard with his eyes shut and hit a low curving fade that ran up onto the green. As the shot traveled, he sprinted madly into the fairway and then scissor-kick jumped to see the result. Shortly aferwards he became the youngest player ever to compete in the Ryder Cup.

When García first turned professional he had an unorthodox swing with a loop and large lag, but during the 2003 season he worked towards making his swing more conventional. In his early years, he repeatedly gripped, released, and regripped his hands on the club handle before finally taking a shot. This "waggle" habit created a stir, especially at the 2002 U.S. Open when some galleries audibly counted the number of regrips into the twenties. Since then he has eliminated the habit. Responding to criticism of his swing, he said, "My swing works for me, so why should I change it? I prefer to have a natural swing and play well rather than a perfect swing and not be able to play good."

García won his first PGA Tour tournament at the 2001 MasterCard Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas defeating and then won again at the Buick Classic the same year. In 2002, he won the Mercedes Championships and in 2004, he won the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and the Buick Classic for the second time. His sixth PGA Tour victory came at the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. He also plays a limited schedule on the European Tour, where he has won nine times.

García was a member of the European Ryder Cup team in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008, and holds an impressive career record at the Ryder Cup of 14-3-3. As three of his appearances have resulted in overall victories, his input in the team has proved invaluable. He had risen into the top five of the Official World Golf Rankings, but after an inconsistent 2006 season, he dropped out of the top 10.


García in 2004In the 2006 Ryder Cup, at the K Club in Ireland, García won both his fourball and foursome matches (with José María Olazábal and Luke Donald, respectively) on day one, beating David Toms and Brett Wetterich in the fourballs and Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk in the foursomes. On day two he paired up with Olazábal again, who won both their matches against Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco in both the foursomes and fourballs. Going into the final day in the singles, García was heavily tipped to be the first person to win all their matches in one Ryder Cup, however Stewart Cink beat him 4 and 3. Europe won the cup again by 18½ points to the United States' 9½ points.

After missing the cut of the first two major championships in 2007, García found success at The Open Championship - his favorite of the four majors - at Carnoustie Golf Links. He held the lead after each one of the first three rounds and carried a 3-shot lead over Steve Stricker and a 6-shot lead over the rest of the field into the start of the fourth day. At an early stage of the last round he had extended the lead to 4 shots, but bogeys at the 5th, the 7th, and the 8th holes brought him back to the field. On the final challenging hole he needed a par to win, but failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker. The last putt on the 18th hole on Sunday would have given him his first professional major. He missed it by a fraction and faced a playoff with Pádraig Harrington that he eventually lost by one stroke. In his post round news conference, García seemed to suggest that bad breaks had cost him the championship. During the playoff, on the 16th hole, his tee shot hit the flag stick, but then bounced 20 feet from the pin, and García could not convert for birdie. " It's not the first time, unfortunately, " he stated. " I don't know...I'm playing against a lot of guys out there, more than the field." In the 2007 PGA Championship, he was disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard after the third round.

On 11 May 2008, García won The Players Championship on the PGA Tour in a playoff against Paul Goydos. On the first playoff hole, the 17th, Goydos hit a pitching wedge that ballooned and fell inches short of the green and into the water, while García played a sand wedge to within four feet of the hole. Goydos made double bogey while García made par for the win. At the 2008 PGA Championship, he narrowly missed out winning his first major championship yet again. Like the 2007 Open Championship, Pádraig Harrington was able to erase a García lead on the back nine for the championship. García would finish two strokes back for his second runner-up finish at the PGA Championship. He did not make many mistakes during his final round, but his second shot on the 16th found the water which cost him sole ownership of the lead. Regarding another near-miss in a major championship, García stated, "I felt like I responded well and he was obviously very good on the back nine and things just happened his way". On 26 October 2008, he won his first European Tour title in over three years, at the first playing of the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar at his home course, the Club de Campo del Mediterráneo in Castellón, Spain. With this win he rose to a career high of third in the Official World Golf Rankings. He dedicated the victory to compatriot Seve Ballesteros, who was recovering from multiple operations on a brain tumor. He won the 2008 HSBC Champions, the opening event on the 2009 European Tour season on 9 November 2008 in a playoff over Oliver Wilson. This win notched him up to a career high second in the Official World Golf Rankings, replacing Phil Mickelson in that spot, who ironically won the HSBC Champions in 2007.



A bachelor, he drives a Ferrari 360 Modena "quickly" and a Jaguar XJR. One of his most notable ex-girlfriends is former world number-one tennis player Martina Hingis, who helped him cope with the emotional side of the game. He has also had an on-and-off relationship with Greg Norman's daughter, Morgan-Leigh Norman, a graduate of Boston College; as of October 2008, the two are dating again.

Additionally, he keeps a close friendship with the Uruguayan football player Diego Forlán. They first met in Castellón when the latter was playing for the nearby La Liga club Villarreal. More recently, he has developed a close rapport with young Colombian star golfer Camilo Villegas, with the two often dining together at night and ribbing one another in both English and Spanish by day while on tour.

Have an Ultra Sergio

Great info FG,,,,, Thanks !!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

He turns 70 today so 70 facts about Jack!

1) He led outright or shared the lead after three rounds of a major championship 12 times in his career, and went on to win 10 times.

2) At age 10, he shot 51 on the first nine holes he ever played.

3) He qualified for his first U.S. Amateur at age 15.

4) His first-ever PGA Tour event was the 1958 Rubber City Open at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. After shooting 67-66 the 18-year-old amateur found himself one stroke out of the lead heading into the weekend. He went on to finish T-12.

5) His first and last PGA Tour victories were majors (1962 U.S. Open and 1986 Masters)

6) Pebble Beach is his favorite course. It was there where he won the 1961 U.S. Amateur and 1972 U.S. Open, as well as three Bing Crosby National Pro-Ams.

7) He’s the author or co-author of 15 books.

8) He never won a major with four rounds in the 60s.

9) He won 15 of his 18 majors in regulation by an average margin of 2.93 strokes.

10) He played in the 2003 Nationwide Tour BMW Charity Pro-Am with his three sons. He was the only one in the family to make the cut, and finished T-45.

11) He is the only player to win the U.S. Open in three different decades (1960s-1980s)

12) He is the youngest U.S. Open champion in the modern era having won in 1962 at age 22.

13) He was the first Masters champion to successfully defend his title (1965, 1966)

14) He won the Masters three times in his first five attempts as a professional.

15) He won at least one PGA Tour event in 17 consecutive years (1962-1978).

16) His worst finish at the British Open from 1966-1980 was sixth.

17) He's in a select number of non-band members to dot the “i" at an Ohio State football game (Bob Hope, Woody Hayes, OSU President Novice Fawcett, retired ticket director Robert Ries and astronaut John Glenn)

18) From the 1970 British Open to the 1978 British Open (33 majors) he finished in the top 10 in every major but two.

19) He holds the record for most top-five finishes in major championships with 56.

20) He played in 156 consecutive majors. (1957 U.S. Open to the 1998 U.S. Open)

21) One of his 19 runner-up finishes in a major came as an amateur (1960 U.S. Open)

22) In his first 22 seasons on Tour, he finished first or second in at least one major every year except one (1969).

23) He got his nickname from Australian sportswriter, Don Lawrence, who said in 1960 that Nicklaus looked like a big “cuddly, golden bear.”

24) He never won the Vardon Trophy for low PGA Tour scoring average.

25) Eight of his ten Champions Tour wins are majors.

26) In addition to winning the most majors (18), he also has the most senior major titles (eight).

27) In 1966 he completed the career grand slam, but he didn’t win his first Player of the Year award until the following year.

28) He was the first PGA Tour player to reach the 2, 3, 4 and 5-million-dollar mark in career earnings.

29) He has made 20 career holes-in-one during competition.

30) He made his first professional start at the 1962 Los Angeles Open and won $33.33.

31) He won the World Series of Golf his first two years on Tour.

32) He was one of 11 inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame class of 1974.

33) He made 105 consecutive cuts from 1970-1976.

34) He won five-straight Ohio State Junior Championships starting at the age of 12.

35) He made his first appearance in a U.S. Open at the age of 17, and made the cut for the first time at age 18.

36) He holds the 72-hole scoring record on the Champions Tour with his 27-under-par 261 at the 1990 Senior TPC. (65-68-64-64)

37) After winning his first Masters in 1963, he was supposed to receive his own green jacket within a year. For unknown reasons he never did, but he kept quiet about it, borrowing other jackets as needed. It wasn’t until 1998 that he brought the matter up, and his request for a green jacket was granted.

38) He, Arnold Palmer and John Harris are the only pro golfers who are members at Augusta.

39) A Jack Nicklaus plaque, honoring the six-time Masters champion, is affixed to a drinking fountain between Nos. 16 and 17 at Augusta National.

40) He is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

41) He was diagnosed with polio when he was 13.

42) He and Tiger Woods are the only players who have won the career grand slam three times over.

43) He finished in the top 10 at the Masters every year in the 1970s.

44) There is a Jack Nicklaus Museum on the campus of Ohio State University in his home town of Columbus, Ohio.

45) Not only does he hold the record for most PGA Championship wins but also runner-ups, top-3s, and top 10s.

46) He holds the record for most under par rounds in the PGA Championship (53).

47) He holds the record for most rounds in the 60s in the PGA Championship (41).

48) 2005 was his final Masters and he missed the cut, but he birdied No. 16 both days.

49) He set the record for low 72-hole score by an amateur (282) at the 1960 U.S. Open.

50) He played on six Ryder Cup teams (1969-1971-1973-1975-1977-1981) and was never on the losing side.

51) He had a 4-4-2 singles record at the Ryder Cup, playing in morning and afternoon singles in 1969, 1971, 1973 and 1975.

52) He had a 17-8-3 overall career Ryder Cup record.

53) He was 8-1-0 in Ryder Cup foursomes.

54)He captained the 1987 U.S. Ryder Cup team, which was the first American team to lose on home soil.

55) The 1987 Ryder Cup was played at Muirfield Village, site of the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial Tournament.

56) He captained four U.S. Presidents Cup teams, going 2-1-1.

57) The Jack Nicklaus Award, established in 1990, is awarded annually to the PGA Tour Player of the Year based on player voting.

58) The NCAA hands out an annual Jack Nicklaus Award to the collegiate Player of the Year.

59) In 2005 he joined the Queen of England and the late Queen Mother as the only people to be commemorated on a British bank note while alive. His image, clutching the Claret Jug, was on the back of two million five-pound notes as issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

60) His instructional book, “Golf My Way,” has sold more than 2 million copies.

61) In 2005 at St. Andrews, he drained a 15-foot birdie putt on his final hole, in his final British Open appearance.

62) When he went in to see his first-born child, Jackie, his knees got wobbly and he passed out.

63) When his second born, Steve, was first brought out to him, Nicklaus passed out again.

64) When his third born, Nancy, was brought out, Nicklaus blacked out yet again. The doctor joked that he required more time in the recovery room than his wife, Barbara.

65) When nurses brought out his fourth born, Gary, guess what happened? Nicklaus keeled over once more.

66) When his fifth and last child, Michael, was brought out, Nicklaus’ legs finally held up. He managed not to pass out.

67) On the morning of his wedding (July 23, 1960), Nicklaus played a full round of golf at Scioto Country Club with three of his friends. He cold topped his last drive as a single man into a water hazard left of the 18th tee box.

68) He caught a 1,358-pound black marlin in a 6-hour and 25-minute fight off the Great Barrier Reef while in Australia to play the 1978 Australian Open. Not only did he hook the largest fish, he won the golf tournament too.

69) He won the Australian Open six times. No other American has won it more than once.

70) He never plays a round of golf without three pennies in his pocket. One to use as his ball marker, one as a backup should he lose the first and one in case a fellow player needed one.

Still the man