After Sergio Garcia bogeyed Oakmont’s No. 16 hole, his third consecutive bogey, the 36-year old Spanish pro of 17 years likely knew that he would remain majorless for at least another couple months.
Garcia, the 13th ranked player in the world, is remaining positive.
“I just got to keep putting myself in this situation and, you know,” Garcia said. “At some point in time, I’m sure that, you know, the coin will end up, will fall off on heads instead of tails.”
The veteran started to close in on eventual champion Dustin Johnson, falling to 3 under after a birdie on 13th.
Garcia wishes that he remained level-headed after that hole, instead of getting too aggressive and bogeying 14, kickstarting his run of added strokes. He called it a “mental error.”
“Got too greedy,” he said. “And I was just coming off a birdie, I was thinking, ‘Let’s make another one and keep going.’ ”
Garcia wasn’t the only one in the field in search of their first major victory. One of them — the winner Johnson — was successful. But Lee Westwood, who has finished second in a major three times, had an even more disappointing round than Garcia, following up a three-round score of 2-under par with a 10-over 80 in the final round, finishing tied for 32nd.
While he boasts no majors, Garcia still has eight career PGA Tour victories and 11 European Tour wins. Even without earning the title at Oakmont, he was encouraged by his ability to remain competitive for the entire tournament.
“I was telling the Spanish media that it’s been awhile since I’ve been in a major four rounds out there in contention,” Garcia said. “So it was great.”
Sergio’s best birdie
Moments after Garcia sunk a remarkable 29-foot shot from the left side bunker on the 8th hole, he strolled past the right side bunker to find an immobile bird lying in the grass.
The ever-passionate Garcia picked up the bird with his left hand and walked it over to the staff, trying to find a home for it.
“Will somebody please take this bird,” Garcia said.
Kathryn Carson, chief legal officer of the USGA, was standing there ready to help.
“I instinctively placed my hands out since somebody had to take it,” Carson said.
The bird was apparently sitting on top of the grandstands and chirping through much of the round. Eventually it made its way to the rough by the bunker and camped out.
After making it into Carson’s hands, the bird attempted to fly away again but failed. Garcia once again picked up the bird and handed it to another worker. Carson said they took the bird to the treeline near the second tee.
“I don’t know the fate of the bird since then,” she said.
People sitting near the treeline were unaware of the whereabouts of the bird.
Big paydays
Staring down his first major title, Johnson likely didn’t have time to worry about how much prize earnings his U.S. Open win would garner.
But with a $10 million winnings pool, a lot of money was at stake. In fact, it matched the largest prize pool in U.S. Open history, tying the mark in 2015.
According to the USGA, Johnson, the winner, received $1.8 million, the same amount 2015 winner Jordan Spieth received. That also matched Danny Willett’s purse from his 2016 Masters win.
The total is a higher amount than the total pool money of any U.S. Open from 1995 and earlier.
The 79 professionals who missed the cut each receive $4,000.
Cabrera can’t repeat Oakmont magic
The winner of the most recent U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in 2007, Angel Cabrera, didn’t walk into the clubhouse as a champion again Sunday.
This time, the 46-year-old Argentinian finished at 9-over par, well behind the leaders, though only four strokes above his 2007 final score. He wasn’t able to repeat, but he still made the cut and drew sizable crowds throughout the week.
Cabrera, known as “El Pato,” or, “The Duck,” opened with a first-round score of 70. He appeared in the running before shooting a 76 in round two. He wasn’t able to make up for that, as he remained steady and lost three more strokes in the final two rounds.
Cabrera has victories in two majors but only three total Tour wins.
Dan Sostek: dsostek@post-gazette.com. Brody Miller: bmiller@post-gazette.com.
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