T

he 40th Players Championship, widely though not officially considered the fifth major in golf, came to a sensational conclusion in front of 40,000 fans early on Sunday evening. The stadium course of the TPC Sawgrass (par 72) fashioned by the high priest of golf-course architecture, Pete Dye, only entertains those with the very best games over four grueling days in May.

The test was so punitive that major championship winners Els, McDowell, Singh (Vijay), Mickelson, Toms, Ogilvy and Yang all missed the cut after two rounds.

The talented 33-year-old Spaniard, Sergio Garcia, won the Players Championship in 2008. His rivalry with Tiger Woods over the years is well chronicled; let us just say the name Sergio Garcia does not appear in Woods'€™s contact list. After the opening round on Thursday, Woods shot a 5 under 67 to tie for fourth place with five others. Garcia on the other hand shot a steady 4 under par 68. The two were chasing first round leader and unheralded American, Roberto Castro, who shot an unanticipated 9 under par 63.

Garcia followed up in the second round with a breathtaking display of his magical short game and putting to render a 7 under par 65 to reach 11 under par to secure the lead. Castro stumbled off the leaderboard with a 6 over par 78. Tiger, however, had other plans.

He crafted a brilliant and consistent 5 under 67 once again in the second act to stay just one shot shy of Garcia at 10 under par. He was now going to be paired with Sergio in the final group for the third round on Saturday. In the second round at the US Open in 2002, Garcia complained that play should have been stopped due to rain and went on to say: '€œIf Tiger Woods had been out there, it would have been called'€. The two men had played six times prior in a third or fourth and final round with Woods getting the better of Garcia on all six occasions.

As the third round of the Players got under way, it only took until the par 5 second hole for controversy to erupt. Sergio complained that Woods had distracted him by pulling a club out of his bag as Sergio was about to strike his second shot, which ended up in some trees on the right of the fairway. Garcia wound up making a bogey on the hole. Woods later maintained that he was told by an official that Garcia had already hit when he reached for his own club and added: '€œIt'€™s not real surprising that he'€™s complaining about something'€.

The rain-delayed round resulted in a narrow single stroke advantage for Woods, who finished at 1 under par to take his score to 11 under and tie for the lead. Garcia could only muster an even par round but was still tied for the lead with Woods heading into the final round. The young Swede, David Lingmerth, joined both men at 11 under par after shooting a third round score of 3 under par 69. Garcia ended up paired with Lingmerth for the final round. When asked about not being paired with Woods again, Garcia added further fuel to the fire saying: '€œHe'€™s not my favorite guy to play with. He'€™s not the nicest guy on tour.'€

Woods, the 2001 Players Champion, for his part knew the odds were squarely in his favor. He has a 92 percent winning record in PGA Tour events when holding a lead going into the final round. Garcia once again knew he was the underdog. The Spaniard played well and after 16 holes tied Woods at 13 under par with a marvelous birdie on the par 5, 16th hole. Woods escaped the island green par 3 17th with a par and marched toward the 18th tee. Garcia took the memory of his birdie to the 17th tee. He was ready to challenge the world'€™s number one player. He struck his tee shot with a pitching wedge and watched his ball carefully as it descended into the lake surrounding the green. The sinking feeling also silenced the thousands of fans around him. He re-teed another ball, striking it to play his third shot, only to find the water again. That was all she wrote for Garcia, who ended up with a quadruple bogey 7 on the par 3 17th. The famed golf writer, Dan Jenkins, once characterized the 17th hole at the Players as being as heartless as an ex-wife'€™s lawyer. Garcia was so disheveled that he hit his tee shot on 18 into the water as well.

Woods for his part played conservatively and made a par on the par 4, 18th hole to take the clubhouse lead at 13 under par. When the Swede, Lingmerth, missed his birdie putt on 18 to tie Woods, Tiger hugged his caddie Joe Lacava in joy and said: '€œHow about that!'€ For his fourth win in 2013, Woods had captured the Players Championship, a title that had eluded him for 12 long years. He had vanquished Garcia not with his words but with his mettle, something that Garcia would be well advised to take to heart.