Sergio Garcia gets major lift with Sawgrass triumph

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - Sergio Garcia, arguably the best current player yet to win a major, enhanced his status with a playoff victory at the prestigious Players Championship on Sunday.

The Spaniard ended a week of superlative ball-striking on the challenging Stadium Course at Sawgrass by beating American Paul Goydos to the title unofficially dubbed the fifth major.

"I'm so thrilled to be here standing with the trophy," Garcia, 28, told reporters after sealing victory with a par to Goydos's double-bogey at the first extra hole.

"I think everybody feels, not only because of the field but the course and everything around it, that it feels like a major.

"It tests you like a major but unfortunately it's not. Maybe sometime in the future, it might be."

Asked whether he felt his victory could lead to a breakthrough in one of golf's four majors, Garcia replied: "I think I still had an open door before this.

"I've always said it; I have to believe in myself. I know what I can do and what I can achieve.

"Believe in myself the whole week, even when things were not going right," added the Spaniard, who has posted 13 top-10s in majors since turning professional in 1999. "That was huge."  Continued...