[lilgarcia]

If you take a look at Sergs recent form he has had two wins twon top fives and three runner ups in his last eight starts. He is now nr2 and getting closer than ever to Tiger. The Tiger will not play for a bit more time and will lose points in the world rankings whilst el nino will just get closer and closer and when he faces Tiger he will win, why because he is strong enough mentally better with a golf club and has the drive now. He wants to and he believes he can. He will win Majors, Fdex cups, Race to Dubai and yes he will be King. Tiger wears red and Sergio wears black.I say always bet on black.

[johndeere10]

"why because he is strong enough mentally better with a golf club and has the drive now."


Give him a putter and tell him to make a 4 foot putt when pressure is on and can you still say that? NO

[tbowles411]

johndeere10, on Nov 10 2008, 07:53 AM, said:

"why because he is strong enough mentally better with a golf club and has the drive now."


Give him a putter and tell him to make a 4 foot putt when pressure is on and can you still say that? NO

+1

[littlepingman]

I agree. There has never been a better clutch putter in the history of the game. Tiger Woods needs step aside and take notes. I see all of Tiger's scoring records falling at the feet of King Garcia this year. Tiger will be forced to not only present the green jacket to the new King, but he will also have to kneel at his feet during the presentation. King Garcia will win the grand slam in 2009. I would rather them simply cancel the 2009 season and present King Garcia with all the years fruitful awards. The Fdex cup is but a forgone conclusion.

And to the man who would be King! Thou art a righteous King!

[kitsoasis]

excuse my lack of skills, because these look like crap and i apologise, its the best i can do lol

to the OP, its not a crime to dream...

Attached image(s)

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[sanchman]

yes i think you can say that. i don't know if he will reach the number one spot, but he looks like he's on the right track. by the way a 7 footer to win the HSBC in a playoff sounds like a pressure putt to me. don't hate the player my friend hate the game.

[nickGT]

The fact it is so poorly done only makes it better

I think the OP goes a bit OTT. However i do feel sergio could take the #1 spot from tiger. Atleast for a while. He is in great form and no one really knows when tiger will be back and at 100%.

[Ezgolfer]

You can be skeptical give his past performances. He definitely is getting results and ca n't be labelled a choker.
He can be dangerous with tnew confidence with his putter and recent wins .
Let us not be @$$$..
He desrves applauds for his game and behaviour. He will never be Tiger ....., but No. 1 is not too far.

[dirtyboy]

I hope he and others step up their game and make the tour a little more competitive.

[Ogre41]

I hope he gets to number one and puts a little scare in Tiger. Because then we will be treated to a thrashing the likes of which no one has ever seen. When someone takes the top spot from Tiger, he takes it personally and responds with unreal golf. I would lve to see that again. It would also be nice to see El Nino live up to the expectations that everyone threw on him when he turned pro (not that he hasn't had a great career, but he hasn't achieved what his hype promised yet).

[stealthontour]

Sergio will probably get to #1, because there is a very real chance we are not going to see Tiger before the US Open, yes I said US Open, not The Masters and so the points loss for TW and gain for Sergio will come together.....

I have a friend who is 'in the know' and the Masters probably going to come too soon for Tiger to get back, personally I hope Harrington wins The Masters, and Tiger's 1st proper event back is the US Open, where he would be defending and Paddy would be going for a Slam in NY and Sergio would be #1, now that would make a seriously good event....

[Wsc04forever]

sergio is playing the most consistent and best golf ive ever seen him play, and yes, i do believe he will pose a great challenge to tiger this year, his recent finnishes are hard to dismiss imo

i think this is a great thread and deserves some consideration

[kitsoasis]

lets not forget majors are still the determining factor here

don't get me wrong, i quite like sergio and i want to see him in a major as much as the next guy, but the fact is the next major isn't for another 6 months.
so until then, threads like these are just going to be "sergio's going to dominate in 2009!" and someone else going "he's a choker, can't dethrone tiger" which is pretty shallow in all

he'll probably come out firing next april and get himself a green jacket, in that case we would have a good debate on our hands; "sergio finally broke the major curse, what's next?"

now, as far as i'm concerned, he has lost yet another opportunity in 2008 to prove himself on the big stage and i'm really looking forward to what he can do in 2009

[sandwedge59]

Sorry ... Sergio might well get to #1 because of Tiger's absence but he IS NOT the same caliber and dont think he will ever be , if Tiger was healthy and playing in these events this would not even be worth dicussing , and i AM NOT a Tiger lover or a Sergio hater , what it basicly comes down to is when you compare a healthy Tiger vs. a healthy Sergio ....Tiger wins hands down almost every time ... IMHO .. the proof is in the pudding !!!!

[tbowles411]

stealthontour, on Nov 10 2008, 09:15 AM, said:

I have a friend who is 'in the know' and the Masters probably going to come too soon for Tiger to get back

Tiger himself doesn't even know when he's coming back. It might be the Masters, it might be later. The thing for him is the repair and the rest that he's getting on that knee. His schedule did not lend itself for "exhaustion", but when you're torquing and twisting an injury, it's a major strain. If he comes back after the Masters, fine. At least he'll be healthy when he does then we'll see how the players respond to a rested and healthy Tiger.

[skinkman]

Good for Sergio to play so well over the past year, but he wins so rarely compared to what it takes to be number 1, that we will have to guess the only way he can be number 1 is if Tiger sits out most of 2009. Of course when Tiger comes back it could take him a good while to get going again, so the likes of Sergio will have him in their sights, but other than VJ and probably Mickelson, very few players have the required multiple wins it would take to do it if Tiger gets over his injuries.
Injuries are part of sports, so i won't use that as an excuse. It is part of the athletes responsibility to do all they can to prevent injuries. We can't use that as an excuse if Sergio becomes number 1..and I don't particularly care for Sergio..at all

[imsocrabby]

i'd love to see sergio battle tiger for the number 1 spot. it would be good for golf.


if i had to choose anyone to do it.....it would be sergio. he's got the game.....and the balls....he hasn't really lived up to the 'nerves' test...but it's coming. i feel it.

[HCEG1]

He has been the best driver of a golf ball for some time and is one of the best iron players. Isn't it amazing how sucessful he immediately becomes when he putts OK for a few weeks, not great, just reasonably.

Give Tiger Sergio's putting over the last 10 years and he'd have maybe 5 or 6 majors and be somewhere around world # 5

Give Sergio Tiger's putting over the last 10 years and he'd have a bunch of majors and be world # 1

Don't ever give Sergio Tiger's driving or he'd be at Q school every year!

[muxi87]

stealthontour, on Nov 10 2008, 09:15 AM, said:

I have a friend who is 'in the know' and the Masters probably going to come too soon for Tiger to get back

I'd make a nice wager that Tiger plays the Masters. I don't really see any way he misses it...heck, just a week or so ago he said the Buick is a distinct possiblity.

[BabyFAcedAssassin]

I think its funny how many people have not noticed that Sergio has become clutch with the putter this year. a 7 footer to get into the playoff and then an 8 footer to win, thats pretty clutch IMO.

His putting has improved immensely with the help of Stan Utley.

How many players had 3 worldwide wins in '08, and were consistently in the top5 for 4-5 months?

Some people have to put the haterade down and realize that Sergio is finally becoming what everyone thought he would be 10 years ago. Just took some time.

[mlh2108]

It's not gonna happen..... Not because Sergio isn't good. Tiger is just way better and as another poster mentioned, between now and Masters not many WR points are at stake. If Sergio is to challenge Tiger he HAS to play better in the majors....if not....forget it...

[Ty_Webb]

mlh2108, on Nov 10 2008, 02:42 PM, said:

It's not gonna happen..... Not because Sergio isn't good. Tiger is just way better and as another poster mentioned, between now and Masters not many WR points are at stake. If Sergio is to challenge Tiger he HAS to play better in the majors....if not....forget it...

Tiger's points are dropping more quickly than Sergio's though. By the Masters, if he hasn't played at all, Tiger's ranking average will be 7.96 I think, which is below Sergio's current ranking. Granted not by a whole lot, so Sergio will have to maintain his current level if he wants to reach number 1, but it's well within reach if Tiger doesn't come back till then. If he comes back at the Buick and wins that, then all bets are off.

[anders]

sandwedge59, on Nov 10 2008, 10:09 AM, said:

Sorry ... Sergio might well get to #1 because of Tiger's absence but he IS NOT the same caliber and dont think he will ever be , if Tiger was healthy and playing in these events this would not even be worth dicussing , and i AM NOT a Tiger lover or a Sergio hater , what it basicly comes down to is when you compare a healthy Tiger vs. a healthy Sergio ....Tiger wins hands down almost every time ... IMHO .. the proof is in the pudding !!!!

If only Seve was 25 years younger. If only we had picked the winning numbers for the lottery. And on And on And on. Shame Garcia will be World Number 1, given that woods won't be playing until another 6 months time, AT LEAST. Woods losing points and Garcia gaining. If the points add up and Garcia is leading then he will be NUMBER 1, and that is just the way it is. Just because Tiger does this and tiger holes a 6 footer when the guns to his head won't matter when he's number 2 or even 3 in the world.

Think about this, maybe Tiger had a mentally strong mind when he was 18 that would rank with someone in their 50s. Garcia mentally has got better and better, you could say his mental strength is maturing. Every sucsessful athlete knows it's the mental side that counts and not so much the physical. The tide is turning my friend so watch out!!!!

[InTheHole]

I find it funny that Sergio lovers are boasting that he's number 2 right now and he "will" take the number one spot away from Tiger- yet the rest of the golf community thinks the rating system is completely flawed (there are how many threads on GolfWRX alone to that effect?). Heck, the current poll on The Golf Channel's web site is "who do you think the real world #2 golfer is?" Doesn't that tell you the whole thing is flawed?

Unless I forgot how sports works, you have to actually go out and play before they give you a ranking, even if it meant something, which it doesn't.

Saying Sergio will take the number 1 spot away from Tiger is meaningless since Tiger will not have played in a tournament for the better part of a year if/when that happens. It would mean something if they had gone head to head that whole time and Sergio had beaten him over and over, which he hasn't.

Silliness.

[manning61]

I find it amusing that everyone is jumping on the Sergio band wagon based on his recent success. One point of note...it's all been since the US Open. Sergio hasn't had to face the pressure and intimidation that Tiger brings to game...and no one has put more pressure on Sergio than Tiger...take a look at their final round scoring average when paired together or even when in contention together...Sergio folds. There's a reason why Tiger was 18 points up on Mickelson (#2) and the rest of the world...he's that much better. Everyone should enjoy their success while Tiger's healing...Sergio may take over the number 1, but it will be due to the fact that Tiger will not have played for almost 10 months at the time of the Masters. Sergio is playing better than any other point in his career, but Tiger will end 2009 as the number 1.

[anders]

InTheHole, on Nov 10 2008, 02:32 PM, said:

I find it funny that Sergio lovers are boasting that he's number 2 right now and he "will" take the number one spot away from Tiger- yet the rest of the golf community thinks the rating system is completely flawed (there are how many threads on GolfWRX alone to that effect?). Heck, the current poll on The Golf Channel's web site is "who do you think the real world #2 golfer is?" Doesn't that tell you the whole thing is flawed?

Unless I forgot how sports works, you have to actually go out and play before they give you a ranking, even if it meant something, which it doesn't.

Saying Sergio will take the number 1 spot away from Tiger is meaningless since Tiger will not have played in a tournament for the better part of a year if/when that happens. It would mean something if they had gone head to head that whole time and Sergio had beaten him over and over, which he hasn't.

Silliness.

Yep meaningless. Thats why the Top 50 in the world qualify for all the major events. Thats why it's the goal of most mid cap players to get into the worlds top 50. Also perhaps the next world number 1 has yet to pick up a club, which means there could well be 5 or more different world number ones in the mean time! Who cares if Tiger has not played for a while, perhaps if he had been playing the gap would be bigger, maybe it would have been tighter, who knows. The problem is all you Tiger fans just take it for granted on past performance that Tiger would have won another 6 events if he had not been injured. We're not all Sergio lovers as some put it, we just like seeing someone other than woods getting to number 1 and making the game more interesting again and lets face it the past few events without tiger have still been fun enjoyable and surprising, all of which is what we all find so enlightening about golf!

[imsocrabby]

if you go back through the annals of wrx.....i think you'll find the same riders on the Sergio bandwagon. there are a few around here who have been riding on it for a long time.


there are some here who will cry 'bandwagon' anytime someone rises to the occasion to challenge tiger. you can't have it both ways. it's either b!tching because no one steps up and then more b!tching when someone does. why can't we just sit back and enjoy the show?

[InTheHole]

Quote

Yep meaningless. Thats why the Top 50 in the world qualify for all the major events. Thats why it's the goal of most mid cap players to get into the worlds top 50. Also perhaps the next world number 1 has yet to pick up a club, which means there could well be 5 or more different world number ones in the mean time! Who cares if Tiger has not played for a while, perhaps if he had been playing the gap would be bigger, maybe it would have been tighter, who knows. The problem is all you Tiger fans just take it for granted on past performance that Tiger would have won another 6 events if he had not been injured. We're not all Sergio lovers as some put it, we just like seeing someone other than woods getting to number 1 and making the game more interesting again and lets face it the past few events without tiger have still been fun enjoyable and surprising, all of which is what we all find so enlightening about golf!

Last I checked, golfers focus on the money list, not the world golf rankings.

Most of them could care less about the world golf rankings. They are meaningless.

Nobody gets anything for being on the world golf rankings. You play, you win, you get something (money, etc.), and the world golf rankings follow later, not the other way around.

Tiger would be the first to tell you he doesn't follow the rankings. I'm sure Sergio would be the second to tell you. Followed by Phil.

[HeadonaStick]

Oh lordy, thanks for the chuckle. I really needed it.

That said, Sergio may reach number one, but he will hardly take it from Tiger. The last person to do that was Vijay. If he can keep it with Tiger playing, that will be something.

If Sergio gets the number one spot, he better enjoy it because Tiger will put the smack down on him hard. Regardless of his recent play, I'd bet donuts to dollars that Sergio's recent performance under pressure will evaporate when Tiger's in the field.

Of course, I said in another thread that Tiger's absence is letting some good players taste victory and work some things out in his absence, maybe Sergio is one of them. I honestly think if Tiger doesn't show up next year and immediately reassert himself and put the smack down on a bunch of players right away, we may see some very interesting golf next year...

[stealthontour]

If Sergio gets to #1 he'll probably keep it for most of next season because even if Tiger comes back for The Masters, he's going to be 'ring rusty' and not 'match fit'. I'd expect him to be pretty average for the first couple of months. The 2010 season is when we should see Tiger back to his imperious best.....

[anders]

InTheHole, on Nov 10 2008, 03:02 PM, said:

Quote

Yep meaningless. Thats why the Top 50 in the world qualify for all the major events. Thats why it's the goal of most mid cap players to get into the worlds top 50. Also perhaps the next world number 1 has yet to pick up a club, which means there could well be 5 or more different world number ones in the mean time! Who cares if Tiger has not played for a while, perhaps if he had been playing the gap would be bigger, maybe it would have been tighter, who knows. The problem is all you Tiger fans just take it for granted on past performance that Tiger would have won another 6 events if he had not been injured. We're not all Sergio lovers as some put it, we just like seeing someone other than woods getting to number 1 and making the game more interesting again and lets face it the past few events without tiger have still been fun enjoyable and surprising, all of which is what we all find so enlightening about golf!

Last I checked, golfers focus on the money list, not the world golf rankings.

Most of them could care less about the world golf rankings. They are meaningless.

Nobody gets anything for being on the world golf rankings. You play, you win, you get something (money, etc.), and the world golf rankings follow later, not the other way around.

Tiger would be the first to tell you he doesn't follow the rankings. I'm sure Sergio would be the second to tell you. Followed by Phil.

so the top 50 in the world rankings don't make the hsbc world events then? Coming to think of it if your outside the top 15 money list and your 30th in the world rankings you don't get to play in the british open? How strange! Most young guys base their year on climbing the world rankings thus qualifying them for bigger more recognised events. Cheers for the insight!

[mattsuth87]

Top players DO care about the world golf rankings( with mickelson as an exception maybe). Sergio has said he wants to be #1, and expressed his desire to pass phil this week. Ernie Els has long talked about the ranking system and his 3 year plan to become #1 and Tiger Definitly cared when Vijay passes him, you could see it in the tournament when it happened, he was grinding so hard to try to keep his # 1 spot and has said how proud he was to have the record for consecutive weeks at #1. So don't try to say its meaningless.
,also on the golfchannel poll who do you think is #2, garcia leads.

[NYsportsfann]

hmmm... just a quick comparison i though of...

tiger made it to the semifinals of the 2008 fedex cup without playing 2/3 of the year and sergio worked all year, made it to the final round, and lost to camilo... no offence to camilo... he is also a great player

just food for thought...

PS i am not a sergio hater but i just think he is a little immature and may not be ready to be "the face of golf" (yet), even if it is for a few weeks.

[gregcindyh]

I like Sergio...and he may get to numero uno, because TW isn't playing. Also, you can't count out Phil, you can't see him on the bench to long? I think when TW comes back, it will be when he feels ready to compete. I'll never forget him saying, "Second sucks" and "Second just means you lost"!

[mfreeman]

Sergio has a lot of confidence. First thing he did when he wins the Players is thank Tiger for not being there. Let's hold judgement until he does theses things with Tiger in the field.

[xdhammerbx]

midasmulligan2000, on Nov 10 2008, 12:35 PM, said:

BabyFAcedAssassin, on Nov 10 2008, 01:13 PM, said:

I think its funny how many people have not noticed that Sergio has become clutch with the putter this year. a 7 footer to get into the playoff and then an 8 footer to win, thats pretty clutch IMO.

His putting has improved immensely with the help of Stan Utley.

How many players had 3 worldwide wins in '08, and were consistently in the top5 for 4-5 months?

Some people have to put the haterade down and realize that Sergio is finally becoming what everyone thought he would be 10 years ago. Just took some time.

I don't hate him, nor am I a fanboy. I merely think this year was quite an anomoly. Tiger's absence was a huge deal. It opened a door to more than one up and coming player. Sergio did pretty good. But ... Padrig also rocked. And Villegas (who people also think has a lot of promise) also seemed to come into his own at the end of the FedEx Cup.

It certainly is ridiculous to say Sergio has no chance, or that his recent play is a fluke, but it is just as ridiculouas to assert that he has finally become someone that can permanently dominate at a level even remotely equal to Tiger. All sorts of golfers periodically have a good year, when they are full of confidence, when even clutch putt goes in, when they just seem to have consistant magic. But there's a big difference between that, and really being #1.

Last time Tiger was out of the picture (during that year of swing changes in 2004) Vijay emerged, and had an astounding year. 9 wins. A nearly Tiger-like performance. He took over the #1 ranking. (And this year ... again in Tiger's absence ... won the FedEx Cup). But that peak of performance (and the #1 ranking) lasted only until Tiger got back into his groove. Several other players stepped out of the shadows also that year (it was the year Phil finally won his first Major). Els won twice. So did Goosen (including the US Open). In fact, it was the last time John Daly won a tournament. Sergio even won one. In 2004, Tiger only won once ... early in the year (the Accenture).

All sorts of people were talking about whether he'd screwed himself up ... whether he'd ever get it back. Talking about other people that could "finally" become #1.

Then ... 2005 happened. Tiger won 6 tournaments, including 2 Majors. Then 2006, where he won 8 tournaments, including (again) 2 majors. Even more is the percentages ... in 2006 he won 8, but only entered 15 (i.e., he won over half the events he entered). In 2007, he entered 16, and won 7 (again ... almost 50% ... he also finished 2nd in three others). In 2008 ... Totally off the charts ... he entered 6 tournaments, won 4 of them, finished 2nd in a fifth, and in the top ten in the sixth. All that talk about the contenders for the throne, the people that were supposedly going to be giving Tiger real competition for #1 in 2004 started seeming ... well, a bit silly.

On the PGA Tour in 2007, Sergio entered 19 tournaments. Didn't win any. Had 7 top ten finishes. In 2008, he again entered 19 tourneys. He won a single one. Yes ... he's also just won Spain and the HSBC ... had a good finish to his year ... but, I mean, c'mon ... it isn't "hatorade" to say that doing pretty well during during a half year of Tiger's absence hardly constitutes the emergence of some new superstar capable of providing true head-to-head competition for Tiger. The dude hasn't even won a major.

I would agree that he probably deserves the title (held by Phil until '04) of "Most Talented Player To Have Never Won a Major" ... and yeah, he may, temporarily, get a #1 ranking on the world ranking list. But ... it'll take a helluva lot more than a year of decent golf, and a couple of wins in a Tiger-free field to think the guy will be anything other than a footnote in the Tiger era.

How come you didnt mention sergios top 10 finishes? if it isnt haterade, you obviously dont like him.

[manning61]

Sergio is a solid #2 and he'll only be a true #1 when Tiger's back in the mix. Bottom line...Tiger has owned Sergio for his entire career. We'll see if this Sergio is ready when the time comes.

[daowens]

You guys are crazy. I like Sergio and all, he has all the talent to do it but he will never be better than Tiger. I'm sorry but it is the truth. Tiger is on a different level.

[MatthewT]

Besides Tiger, who has been the best and consistent player this season? With out a doubt it has to be Sergio, every week it seems like he is right there and has a shot to win. Padraig had a great year, don't get me wrong, winning the last two majors is huge, and 3 of the last 6 is even more of an accomplishment, but besides those 2 tournments how would you rate Padraigs year? Average at best. The world rankings seems to reward those who win and those who play consistent, isn't that what every golfer wants? I think Sergio defently deserves to be #2 in the world. If all the best players besides Tiger were to play in a tournment tomorrow, most people would pick Sergio to win or at least contend. I don't see the flaw in the Ranking system, but I am a Sergio fan, so I may be a bit bias. Even if Sergio does pass Tiger in the ranking system, he will never be the player Tiger is, unless something crazy were to happen.