Garcia latest challenger to Tiger's crown

The comparisons are inevitable.

Sergio Garcia has youth, charisma, star power and game. He lacks only a major championship until he can be mentioned in the same class with Seve Ballesteros.

But not with Tiger Woods.

Despite his worst back-to-back weeks in two years, Woods has no rival in golf and most likely will not have a legitimate challenger for at least 10 years -- or, according to Earl Woods, until his son gets married.

Garcia is only the latest pretender.

His victory in the Buick Classic was impressive enough. The 21-year-old Spaniard put on a clinic of driving, ball-striking, chipping and putting. So impressive was his game that Scott Hoch, the runner-up, was trying to figure out why the margin of victory wasn't greater than three strokes.

Woods finished 12 strokes behind in a tie for 16th, his lowest finish in 23 events.

A week earlier, Garcia was in contention at the U.S. Open until he closed with a 77 and slipped into a tie for 12th -- the same place as Woods, although Woods was never a factor. Before that, Garcia blew past Phil Mickelson at Colonial for his first win on American soil.

``He's won twice over here, where we have the toughest competition in the world,'' Hoch said. ``Yeah, he's arrived.''

Then he paused, a rare occasion that showed Hoch wanted to be careful with his words.

``I mean, obviously he's not at Tiger level,'' Hoch said. ``But right now, I'd put him in anybody else's level.''

That could be the same level as Joe Durant, the only player beside Woods and Garcia to have won more than once this year on the PGA Tour.

More likely, he is on the same level as Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III and Ernie Els. They contend often, and win some of the time. All have taken their turns as potential rivals of Woods, only it doesn't last long.

Two great months by Garcia doesn't get it done.

Two substandard weeks by Woods -- it was the first time since the Masters and Hilton Head in 1999 that he finished out of the top 10 in consecutive weeks -- doesn't bring Woods back to the pack. In some respects, it only enhances Woods' legend. No one will ever master golf, but Woods has come closer than anyone could have imagined.

A clean sweep of the majors, and five of the last seven. Victories in 21 of his last 44 tournaments worldwide. Only one missed cut in his career, and 71 straight events in which he has cashed a paycheck. Forty-two consecutive tournaments under par.

This is the second time Garcia has been mentioned as a rival to Woods. As a 19-year-old rookie, Garcia carved that shot out of a tree with his eyes closed at Medinah and gave Woods a mighty scare in the PGA Championship.

Garcia won twice in Europe that year, starred in the Ryder Cup -- and didn't win another tournament for nearly two years.

When Woods was a 20-year-old rookie, he not only earned his PGA Tour card in seven events, he qualified for the Tour Championship. A record-setting Masters followed, and even while rebuilding his swing he won twice and threatened in two majors.

Garcia is a fabulous player, a possible foil for Woods. He plays his best when he is cocky, and gets even more cocky the better he plays. All great players have that trait, and Garcia is only getting warmed up.

``He's been playing great,'' Woods said. ``Good for him. He needs to do that, and it's fun to watch. Hopefully, we'll go head-to-head in some other tournaments down the road.''

In the meantime, it's better to compare Garcia to Ballesteros, not Woods.

Ballesteros was a blast of brilliance and charisma when he burst onto the stage as a 19-year-old at a major championship. It was at Royal Birkdale in 1976, when the Spanish teen nearly won the British Open until succumbing to Johnny Miller.

Ballesteros, like Garcia, won his first PGA Tour event as a 21-year-old, at the Greater Greensboro Open in 1978.

He was dashing and defiant and arrogant, an immense talent and the master of recovery shots, whether he was behind a tree or in a parking lot.

Ballesteros was No. 1 in the world in the mid-1980s. Garcia might never get there, at least in the rankings spit out by IMG in a London office.

Such is the gap between Woods at No. 1 and Garcia at No. 5 that an IMG spokesman said Tuesday that Garcia could win the next four majors and Woods could miss the cut in the next four majors, and Woods still would be No. 1.

``It's not easy,'' Garcia said. ``But I feel like I'm getting there. I'm going to keep trying as hard as I can. I'm going to try to keep winning as much as I can. Maybe one day, I will be fortunate enough to be No. 1.''

Number one in the world? Doubt it.

But maybe the No. 1 Spaniard of all time.

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