Sergio Garcia has been named The European Tour Golfer of the Month for
May after becoming only the second European golfer to win The Players
Championship at the TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Garcia's play-off victory over Paul Goydos was the Spaniard's 17th
victory worldwide and came 21 years after Sandy Lyle's success in
1987. Garcia triumphed in a thrilling climax, holding his nerve to
hole a seven foot par putt to tie Goydos on five under par 283 in
regulation play. Then, after Goydos's wedge shot fell short in the
water on the notorious par three 17th, Garcia successfully found the
putting surface to secure victory at the first extra hole.
It was the biggest title of Garcia's career to date and lifted him
back into the top ten in the Official World Golf Ranking in addition
to boosting his prospects of a fifth successive Ryder Cup appearance
for Europe against the United States.
Garcia secured the majority vote from the panel, comprising members of
the Association of Golf Writers' along with journalists from Radio and
Television, ahead of several contenders, led by England's Richard
Finch, who made a splash on his 100th European Tour appearance by
winning The Irish Open at Adare Manor to become the second multiple
winner of the season.
Spain's Miguel Angel Jiménez also caught the eye of the judging panel
after winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club and
completing the set of three BMW titles having previously won the BMW
Asian Open and the BMW International Open in 2004. He was also the
first player to win the title with a hole-in-one in his final round.
Other contenders who received a special mention in an enthralling
month included three first time winners in Ireland's Peter Lawrie
(Open de Espańa), South Africa's Hennie Otto (Methorios Capital
Italian Open) and Australia's Scott Strange (The Celtic Manor Wales
Open), along with Swede Robert Karlsson, who finished in the top three
in all four events he played during May, and England's Oliver Wilson,
twice a runner-up in the month.
Iain Carter, Golf Correspondent of Radio Five Live, said: "It was a
quite extraordinary month concluded by a phenomenal performance from
Scott Strange in winning his maiden European Tour title on the 2010
Ryder Cup course where, by finishing runner-up, Robert Karlsson took
his winnings in four successive European Tour events in May to
€729,634 and his scoring to 57 under par for 16 rounds. Both Richard
Finch and Miguel Angel Jiménez's wins were rightly applauded by the
panel although after a close vote Sergio Garcia earned the award for a
superb performance at Sawgrass where many observers agreed he produced
the best exhibition of driving see this season."
The other Golfer of the Month Award winners of 2008 are Germany's
Martin Kaymer (January), Mark Brown of New Zealand (February), Graeme
McDowell of Northern Ireland (March) and Trevor Immelman of South
Africa (April). At the end of the year, all monthly winners will be
amongst the players considered by the panel for The European Tour
Golfer of the Year.
For further information, please contact:-
The European Tour Communications Division
Tel: +44 (0)1344 840400; Fax: +44 (0)1344 840444
Email: media@europeantour.com
Roddy Williams
Senior Press Officer and Website Editor
Tel: +44 1344 840400
Mobile: +44 7899 940029
