There are clutch moments, really clutch moments, and then there’s what Sergio Garcia did on Sunday at the Sanderson Farms Championship. The 40-year-old clinched his 36th professional victory with one of the best approach shots of the year, stuffing an 8-iron to three feet on the 72nd hole. The ensuing birdie gave Garcia a one-stroke win over Peter Malnati, whose Sunday 63 would fall short thanks to the Spaniard’s theatrics.
Garcia’s shot was brilliant given the adrenaline of the moment, but perhaps even more so when you consider the skill required to execute it.
“It’s not an easy hole,” he said. “It’s 500 yards, and you have to hit a great drive. The pin was a good pin on the right side, and if you miss it a little bit right, it’s a very tricky up-and-down. To be able to stand there and hit the kind of 8-iron that I did and then hit the putt that I did, even though it was only two and a half feet or something like that, you still have to gather yourself and trust yourself and do it. So that was really nice.”
The former Masters champion has assuredly had bigger shots than yesterday’s 172-yard dart throw on 18, but more clutch ones? You’d be hard-pressed to find many. So, how did he do it? Well, at least in part thanks to his setup — and his getup.
First and foremost, it’d be hard not to give partial credit to Garcia’s Adidas Ultimate365 polo. The striped pattern Garcia modeled on Sunday had folks on social media likening the design to pajamas, a bowling shirt and the Yankees jersey, but jokes aside, there are few performance polos that rival the Adidas Ultimate365. And while we’re on baseball analogies, you can view the Ultimate365 polo a bit like a utility infielder: stretch fabric, moisture-wicking technology and performance design make the Ultimate365 great for doing a little bit of everything well.
But in fact, the biggest factor in Garcia’s setup came leading into the week, when he elected to employ Ping’s Blueprint irons over the TaylorMade P7MB’s he’d been playing for much of the summer.
A Blueprint 8-iron helped Garcia flush his approach on 18, and also played a major role in his strokes gained: approach performance for the week, which finished near the top of the field.
The Blueprints are Ping’s quintessential tour iron, engineered from fully forged steel for highly skilled players to maximize each shot’s playability.
Neither pure muscleback nor pure better-player iron, the Blueprints position themselves firmly within the best of both worlds (distance and precision). And while they bear the appearance (and performance) of a club built for elite players, a tungsten insert built in the toe of the club helps to maximize forgiveness.
In short, if you’re looking to dial-in irons and dial-up birdies — be it on the 1st hole or the 72nd — it’s worth taking a good, long look into the Blueprint.
