MEDINAH, Ill. – The rivalry for which golf has long ached may have been born Sunday at Medinah Country Club, on the back nine of the century's final major.
The PGA Championship came down to Tiger Woods, 23, and Sergio Garcia, 19, the sport's youngest and perhaps most charismatic stars, scrapping to the 72nd hole.
It ended with the relieved and exhausted winner, Woods, embracing his tenacious but smiling challenger, Garcia. It ended with Woods, at 11 under, the winner by one stroke but Garcia the gallery favorite.
It was an afternoon during which Woods nearly blew a five-shot lead over the final seven holes. It featured a defining moment: Garcia sinking a birdie putt on No. 13 and shooting a challenging stare at Woods, back on the tee box.
There was late-hole suspense, with Garcia missing potential tying birdie putts on Nos. 14, 17 and 18, and Woods draining a nervy eight-foot par save on 17. When Woods tapped in for par on No. 18, clinching his second major title in three pro seasons, the duel seemed to leave this impression:
If Sunday wasn't a preview of golf's future, it was at least a captivating teaser. In any case, it probably created a craving for more.
"You know what?" said Garcia, who was attempting to become the youngest major champion this century. "I'm a little unhappy I didn't win, but inside of me I feel like I won. I don't know, being 19 years old, three months since I turned pro, you can't ask for any more."
Few would have anticipated such a finish when Woods, now 8-1 when owning at least a share of the lead entering the final round, birdied the 11th hole to take a five-stroke lead over Garcia and Nick Price.
Unlike his 1997 Masters victory when he pulled away to a record-shattering 12-stroke margin, Woods lost his grip. First, it was a three-putt bogey on the par-4 12th. Then, after Garcia's birdie and stare on No. 13, Woods air-mailed the green, leading to a double-bogey.
Suddenly, his lead over Garcia was one. Price, on his way to a back-nine 39 (3 over) was two back.
"Granted, I did have a little tough stretch," Woods said. "But my focus was always there. That never left me. I tried on every shot. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen."
If a Woods-Garcia rivalry does grow from Sunday, the 13th-hole stare will be remembered as the moment Garcia issued the challenge. Garcia was so busy raising his fist and looking toward Woods that he strode past the cup and had to backtrack to retrieve his ball.
Woods said he saw Garcia's putt drop but turned away to pull up some grass (to test the wind), so he didn't' see the stare. Either way, the world learned something about Garcia's youthful temerity.
"I wanted him to know that I was still there, to show him that he had to finish well to win," Garcia said. "But it wasn't a bad thing. I mean, I did it with good feelings, not hoping for Woods to make a triple-bogey, or whatever."
Woods didn't triple, but when his double-bogey was posted, Garcia, walking up No. 14, heard the gallery roar.
"Right there, I realized they were with me," he said.
By then, according to Woods, several fans were hurling insults toward Woods and playing partner Mike Weir (who plummeted from third-round co-leader to a final-round 80).
But it was Garcia who blinked next, overshooting the 15th green and taking bogey. That dropped him to 10 under, two strokes behind Woods. By then, Price had fallen back. Although Garcia and Woods weren't in the same group, it was mano a mano. Or rather, young man vs. teenager.
Garcia's sudden wildness appeared to get him in trouble on the par-4 16th, when his drive drifted right and stopped in a crook at the base of a tree.
From 189 yards out, Garcia said, he considered laying up. But he decided to open the face of a 6-iron, swing as hard, close his eyes and hope the ball did not ricochet into his face. Instead, the ball curved left to right and rolled to the back of the green.
Garcia sprinted up the fairway and leaped into the air to see the shot's result. His two-putt from 60 feet kept him within striking range.
Woods gave Garcia, and Garcia's sudden legion of fans, cause for hope when he hit his 16th-hole approach shot short, into a bunker, and failed to get up-and-down for par.
But Garcia's birdie chances of 18 feet on No. 17 and 15 feet on No. 18 missed, and when Woods converted his up-and-down on 17, it was a matter of parring No. 17.
It was nothing like Woods' Augusta blowout, but then, perhaps, nothing ever will be.
"To finally get major title No. 2 is definitely a relief because, from the media standpoint, I don't have to keep answering the questions," Woods said.
And to think: Golf fans have wanted a rivalry since Jack Nicklaus' individual duels with Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson.
Early this year, the media tried to conjure a Woods-David Duval rivalry. Last month, Woods' and Duval's management company, IMG, tried to synthetically create a rivalry with a televised match.
But rivalries aren't created. Most are born in major championships such as the 1960 U.S. Open, when Palmer and then-20-year-old Nicklaus finished 1-2.
Woods stopped well short of calling Sunday the start of a rivalry - explaining that golf has many other young talented players, including Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Dallas' Justin Leonard. But Woods admitted Garcia has as much the same makeup as someone he knows well - himself.
"In order for him to play as well as he has, he has to be able to be a good competitor," Woods said. "He has a tremendous amount of fight. You can just see it about him, the way he plays, the way he walks around the golf course.
"He really wants to play well, and he's going to do it at any cost. And it's wonderful to see."
