Garcia, Moore show fine line between winning and losing

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The events happened about 4,000 miles and five hours apart, but they perfectly illustrate what any veteran professional golfer already knows: Man, it's hard to win a tournament.

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Just ask Sergio Garcia and Ryan Moore. Both had the misfortune of missing 4-foot putts on the final hole to help Pablo Larrazabal and Fredrik Jacobson lift the trophies. Moore's miss to save par came on the 72nd hole of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn., while Garcia's for birdie came on the fifth hole of a playoff at the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany.

"No excuses," Moore said. "Just didn't hit it where I meant to hit it and missed it."

Garcia also shrugged his shoulders afterward. "I just wanted to make that putt so badly," he said. "Just hit it a little too hard. I hit a great second putt. I mean, that ball has to go left, it has to. I don't know why it did it, but unfortunately (it) lipped-out."

This is what makes golf such a difficult sport to play for a living. There are 156 ways to lose a tournament, it seems, and only one way to win it.

Moore was in a stretch where he had played his last 23 holes in 12 under before making a mistake at a key moment. There are no mulligans on the PGA TOUR.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Garcia looked invincible when he rolled in long eagle putts at the ninth and 11th holes, but his old putting woes re-surfaced at the wrong moment.

when you consider how excruciatingly hard it is to win -- that's what makes golf seem like yet another four-letter word. In what other sport can an athlete win once during a season and feel like he had a great year?

All four of Sunday's key players are living proof of how incredibly hard it is to take home that oversized check. For Jacobson, this was his first PGA TOUR victory in his 188th start, although he has three wins on the European Tour.

Last fall, in fact, he was asked this question by his 5-year-old daughter Emmie: "Daddy, why don't you have any trophies at home?"

Ouch.

So Jacobson made a vow to Emmie: "I promise you I'll get one this year for you," he said. "And it's been haunting me. I've been asked so many times by the kids ... 'Did you get a trophy this week, Daddy? Did you get a trophy?' Nope, no trophy. But I'm coming home (with one). I'm glad I'm not breaking that promise for her."

Moore can relate. He won almost every significant amateur championship while in college at UNLV, but has just one victory in 156 career starts on the PGA TOUR.

These players didn't suddenly become less talented when they turned professional. It's just the competition is so much better -- and getting better by the day. Combined, Moore and Jacobson have nine runner-up finishes on the PGA TOUR, with six belonging to Moore, which shows it's a lot easier to finish second than to win.

Garcia has experienced both sides of the spectrum. He was still an amateur when he won his first professional event at the age of 17. It took him just six starts as a pro to win for the first time on the European Tour, and he went on to become the youngest Ryder Cup participant. But the last of his seven PGA TOUR victories came more than three years ago, at THE PLAYERS Championship.

His drought appeared to be ending Sunday, but then he made four bogeys on the back nine, three-putted the last playoff hole and will have to wait even longer for that next "W."

At least golf softens the blow with several nice parting gifts. Moore vaulted from 55th to 32nd in the FedExCup standings and earned $528,000. Garcia's runner-up finish earned him a spot in next month's British Open. But I can promise you they weren't thinking about those things when they missed their short putts.

While Jacobson was relieved his wait had ended, he knows he has plenty more work ahead because he has two other children, Alex, 7, and Max, 3.

"They're probably going to want one each now," Jacobson said.

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.Hope those trophy kids are patient.