Jim McCabe

When Sergio Garcia put a warm embrace around the extravagant trophy that came with his May win at The Players and told folks at the victory presentation that he wanted to “thank Tiger [Woods] for not being here,” there were laughs all around.

There’s just one thing: Who is to say Garcia was joking? Take a look at the young man’s history and you can see where he might have been quite serious. After all, going all the way back to that PGA Championship of 1999, Garcia has been Wile E. Coyote to Woods’ Roadrunner.

OK, so maybe it hasn’t been quite that bad, but surely it hasn’t been good. Consider that despite all his talents and ball-striking prowess and all the times Garcia has crossed paths with Woods, he has won just three PGA Tour tournaments in which both men played.

Three times! Heck, Mark O’Meara matches that total and he never possessed the sort of talent that Garcia owns.

Then again, O’Meara knew Woods as a friend who happened to be a supremely gifted player and never was intimidated by him.

Garcia, on the other hand, only knows Woods as a bitter rival who time and time again has pretty much denied him the major championship glory he craves. Garcia quivers at the thought of going head-to-head with Woods and three heartaches leap into view — that ’99 PGA when Woods edged Garcia by one; the 2002 U.S. Open when Garcia lost his composure amid a New York crowd and finished six shots behind Woods; and the 2006 British Open where a final-round 73 looked even worse in a head-to-toe yellow ensemble as Garcia started the day one behind Woods and concluded it a whopping seven back.

Surely the list could be expanded, but you get the point: Garcia has rarely stood up to Woods. That is why Woods’ absence from the upcoming British Open benefits Garcia more than any other player, because while he unquestionably has the game to win, he now has his biggest nemesis sitting thousands of miles away with a cast on his left leg.

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If you want to suggest that Ernie Els rates just behind Garcia on the list of those who will breathe easier with Woods’s void, I wouldn’t argue with you. Think back to 2000 when Woods steamrolled to wins in the U.S. Open and British Open and it was Els who had the misfortune of finishing second both times — albeit by 15 and 8 strokes, which hardly made for pleasant post-round conversations.

“I’m running out of words. Give me a break,” pleaded Els that June Sunday at Pebble Beach eight years ago after Woods had completed a wire-to-wire romp that led reporters to ask question after question of the Big Easy.

He looked that day like he had already had his fill of the 24-year-old Woods, except that in truth, it was just beginning for Els. No matter what he has done in his illustrious career, the big South African has never been able to match up with Woods, though to give him credit, he’s fared much better than Garcia.