Sergio Garcia makes his 73rd career major start on Thursday at the PGA Championship still searching for his first major title.
But the Spaniard, 36, has come to terms with his place in the conversation about best golfers never to win a major and what failing to ever win one might mean.
“If it doesn’t happen, it’s not going to change my life,” Garcia said. “I’m not going to go in a cave and stay there until I die because I didn’t win a major or anything like that. It’s not that serious.
“I’m not going to lie. It would be nice to get at least one. But it’s not the end of the world.”
Garcia tees off at Baltusrol in his 70th consecutive major dating to the 1999 British Open, this time alongside two-time major winner and world No 3 Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson, a two-time Masters champion.
More PGA Championship
• Thursday's tee times: PGA Championship first round and groups in UAE time
• John McAuley: Five players capable of extending first-time major winner streak at the PGA Championship
Garcia has four runner-up showings and two third-places in majors among 22 top-10 major finishes without a triumph since missing the cut at the 1996 British Open in his major debut as a teen amateur.
“Maybe five or 10 years ago, it would have [bothered me]. But not anymore,” Garcia said. “I understand how difficult it is to win every week. The only thing I can do is just keep giving myself chances and just wait for it. Hopefully it will happen.”
First-time major winners have captured the past four in a row.
“I would love to make it five in a row,” Garcia said. “Obviously it would be very nice. But we’ll see. It’s a long week. My goal is to play well, to give myself another shot at winning a major, and then see what I can come up with.”
“It’s obviously nice to see new major winners, but every week is a different story.”
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson won the British Open two weeks ago at Royal Troon, beating 46-year-old Phil Mickelson to win his first major at age 40, giving Garcia hope and faith he has plenty more years to end his drought.
“What that shows me is never give up, keep giving myself chances and keep waiting for that day when things really happen my way and then hopefully I’ll be able to raise that trophy,” Garcia said.
“If you stay healthy, you still can give yourself a lot of chances here and there. That’s my goal, to keep giving myself chances and hopefully take as many as possible in the coming years.”
Garcia won the Byron Nelson Championship in May and has shared fifth at the US and British Opens since.
“I played fairly well at the US Open. At the Open Championship, I felt like my swing wasn’t quite there but I scrambled well. I scored well,” Garcia said.
“I guess for me that’s positive because it shows me that I don’t need to be perfectly in form to still have a chance going into majors.”
Garcia was twice a runner-up at the PGA Championship, coming second to Tiger Woods in 1999 at Medinah and to Padraig Harrington in 2008 at Oakland Hills.
He also finished second at the 2007 and 2014 British Opens and shared third at the 2005 US Open and 2006 PGA.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Martin Sabbagh profile
Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East
In the role: Since January 2015
Lives: In the UAE
Background: M&A, investment banking
Studied: Corporate finance
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
%3Cp%3ECory%20Sandhagen%20v%20Umar%20Nurmagomedov%0D%3Cbr%3ENick%20Diaz%20v%20Vicente%20Luque%0D%3Cbr%3EMichael%20Chiesa%20v%20Tony%20Ferguson%0D%3Cbr%3EDeiveson%20Figueiredo%20v%20Marlon%20Vera%0D%3Cbr%3EMackenzie%20Dern%20v%20Loopy%20Godinez%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETickets%20for%20the%20August%203%20Fight%20Night%2C%20held%20in%20partnership%20with%20the%20Department%20of%20Culture%20and%20Tourism%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20went%20on%20sale%20earlier%20this%20month%2C%20through%20www.etihadarena.ae%20and%20www.ticketmaster.ae.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Kill%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nikhil%20Nagesh%20Bhat%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Lakshya%2C%20Tanya%20Maniktala%2C%20Ashish%20Vidyarthi%2C%20Harsh%20Chhaya%2C%20Raghav%20Juyal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Apple product price list
iPad Pro
11" - $799 (64GB)
12.9" - $999 (64GB)
MacBook Air
$1,199
Mac Mini
$799
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra