LA JOLLA, Calif. (June 15, 2008) - Imagine if Sergio Garcia stood right there with Tiger Woods in the final pairing for the final round of the U.S. Open later this afternoon. Or even if he was just a group or two and a shot or two back.

An Open that’s already felt like more of a Super Bowl with all the buzz it’s produced, not to mention a caddie rolling around on the ground under the ropes with a fan, would be ratcheted up to a New England Patriots-New York Giants stratosphere.

It could have happened too if Garcia had prepared for this U.S. Open a little differently. If he had taken getting to now the United States Golf Association revamped Torrey Pines South a little more seriously.

Garcia played one practice round on Torrey before the Open. One. He admitted he hadn’t even looked at the course as late as Tuesday afternoon.

So what happens? Garcia shoots a predictable 5-over 76 in the first round, a score that’s still haunting him. The Spaniard who blew that British Open has been very good at Torrey since his Thursday torment. Two straight 1-under 70s. But the 5-over first day still has him at 3-over for the tournament, six shots back of the greatest closer in the history of sports, with no real shot.

Garcia can argue that the first round could have happened anyways, but the stats scream otherwise. He’s playing better and better as he gets more familiar with Torrey Pines. Imagine that.

Tiger played four practice rounds despite his bad knee in the six days before the Open. And he played Torrey Pines a ton essentially all his life. Still the world’s best wanted to give himself a chance to learn absolutely everything he posssibly could about the course in its U.S. Open setup.

When are talents like Sergio Garcia going to learn from the best?