Sergio's always been as close to Tiger as anyone as regards natural talent. Over the years, his main failing has been with the putter, and he's won a handful of tournaments when he starts to hole a few. A couple of years ago, Adam Scott gave him a tip on the greens on Wednesday, and Sergio beat him by one on Sunday evening.
He putted solidly this weekend - the whole four days showed his class. He's risen to number 3 in the world, and now, surely, he's ready to take a major.
We've been saying that for quite a while now. Ok, the PGA in 1999 was spectacular, but he couldn't have been expected to finish it off at 19 - the last player to win a major that young was Johnny McDermott in 1910 or -11 - but he's had his chances since then. Paddy's nicked a couple from him, and the more you miss, the greater the pressure gets.
Will he win a major next year? No one can say. But he is now fully ready. His putting this year has been better than any year before - he won the Players, which is as close you get to a major - and don't underestimate the pressure as the home boy at Castellon at the weekend.
His mental game has improved enormously since he was the exciting, and excited, kid who scissor-kicked his way up the fairways at Medinah, and he just needs that final piece of self-belief.
Harrington has obviously been the headliner in the majors this year, but with Karlsson taking 3 top 10s, and Sergio and Westwood coming close again, you've got to believe in a few more European winners over the next dozen majors. Sergio, Westwood, Karlsson, and then the next level coming up - Fisher, Kaymer, and McDowell, to name but a few. The US will be putting up Mahan and Kim, but at a time when there are more Euros than US in the World's top 10, it's got to happen.
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