So close for Sergio, but he'll get his one day

He's got it in the bag. That's was my feeling for Sergio Garcia going in to the final round of the British Open Championship. He had a three shot lead, his putting woes had not surfaced, but most of all, I felt his time had come.

I was wrong.

I didn't take in to account the phenomenal final round performance by Open winner Padraig Harrington. Harrington went in to the day six shots off the lead, with nobody giving him a chance to be the eventual winner. What a difference a 5-under par 67 can make.

Harrington actually went on to the 18th hole at Carnoustie with a one stroke lead, only to hit two balls in to the infamous Barry Burn. That left Sergio back in the driver's seat.

Garcia, who led for almost the entire week, needed a par on the finishing hole to win his first major championship. After a few tricky shots, Garcia had a ten foot putt to win it all. As has been the pattern in his young career, his putter let him down.

In the playoff Harrington made amends for his double-bogey on the 72-hole, erasing any mention of his name with Jean Van de Velde who could not recover from his disaster eight years earlier.

Golf rarely gives anyone second chances. As a golfer myself, I can certainly attest to that fact. Harrington got his, and he made good on it. As much as my heart was cheering for Sergio, I still felt pride for Harrington's feat.

Sergio will learn from this experience. I feel he's the kind of player who will win a major tournament one day, and then he won't stop there. I figure once he gets the first win under his belt, he'll get a few more. It's just a matter of getting that first one out of the way. At 27-years of age, he's got a lot more chances ahead to do it.

The British Open - Back at Carnoustie

Sergio Garcia leads the British Open after the first round at Carnoustie in Scotland.

The old course houses a lot of memories, none less memorable than the complete and utter collapse of French golfer Jean Van de Velde eight years ago (wow - has it really been that long!?). If you're unfamiliar with Van de Velde's story, check out my previous posting.

While the course is still playing difficult, it's not what it was during the 1999 tournament. That's good news for the world's best players.

Who will rise to, and remain on top, come Sunday? I would love to see Garcia do it, he's certainly paid his dues, but I have a feeling, and I'm going out on a limb here, that Retief Goosen will capture the historic Claret Jug. He can keep the ball in the fairway and he has the consistency to make it happen.

In any case, it will be fun to watch.

Big shake up in Flames town

Wow, you take a few weeks out of the blogosphere and your favorite hockey team completely shakes things up. And I mean COMPLETELY.

Here's my take on the recent deals of my Calgary Flames.

MIKE KEENAN

I will be the first to admit, I was not a big fan of former coach Jim Playfair behind the Flames bench. When the team was near the top of the league on home ice, and then near the bottom on the road, it's not hard to see that the coaching was not what it needed to be. In saying that, I had no idea that the man replacing Playfair would be none other than Iron Mike Keenan.

Years ago, I was a backer of Mike Keenan. I thought he did a phenomenal job in Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York. As time went by, he seemed to lose a bit of his balance for toughness and touch. His time in St. Louis, Boston, Vancouver and Florida were not anything to write home about, and were in fact, down right awful.

Which Mike Keenan we'll see in Calgary is unknown. I will not judge him just yet, I'll wait to see results. In saying that, the Flames lacked discipline last year and Keenan will bring that in spades. I only hope that's enough to make this a smooth transition.
I'm just glad Keenan's only the coach and not the General Manager. His strength has always been coaching, that's where he should be.

NEW SIGNINGS, ACQUISITIONS

I've been very impressed at how active Calgary's been in the free agent market. While some teams, like my home town Canucks, have been sitting on the sidelines, the Flames have stepped up with big commitments and big dollars. Here's my take on the major names.

• D Cory Sarich (5-year, $18 million) - This is a great pick-up from Tampa Bay. Sarich has been a solid all around player, exactly what the Flames need on the blue line. He has lots of playoff experience and is set to make an immediate difference.


• LW Owen Nolan (Coyotes, 1-year) - I've always been a big fan of Owen Nolan, ever since he was selected first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 Entry Draft. Although he's aged over the years, he's still a goal scorer who can hold his own on the ice. Great pick-up.


• D Adrian Aucoin (Via trade from Blackhawks) - This is the one deal I'm a little unsure about. There is no doubt about Aucoin's talent, it's his health that's the question mark. Aucoin has had a string of injuries the past couple years and that certainly hurts, especially given his big salary. If he ends up playing 70+ games, great pick-up. If he's injured early, it could be tough slugging.
  

SIGNIFICANT RE SIGNINGS

It looks like both Jerome Iginla and Robyn Regehr will be locked up, and for long term. These are perhaps the biggest deals of them all. Iginla and Regehr are the backbones of this team and I'm ecstatic the Flames have stepped up to keep them.

OVERALL OUTLOOK

In the end, I'm excited about what this new Flames team has to offer. If anything, it's nice to see them step up to try and get back to the next level. Status-quo was not an option.