PGA: Did the Belly Putter Break Down?

All day Friday, the talking heads on TNT's coverage of the British Open told me that down the stretch at any event, the belly putter method breaks down. Was that the problem? Would Sergio Garcia have made his "Open Winning" putt had he been using a better technique, one less likely to break down? Or did he just choke?

For me, I don't blame putting technique for Serigo's breakdown. It was his lack of "Tiger" that left him looking at the trophy and not hoisting it. Sergio was a conservative wimp on Sunday. He didn't try to go for the win, his approach on his final round wasn't the Tigeresk go-get-it attitude; he played not to lose.

You can't win a Major on Sunday by playing not to lose. The pressure got to Sergio. Garcia made three bogeys in his first three rounds, he made five bogeys on Sunday.

The putter obviously didn't work out like Sergio hoped: he couldn't find a way to avoid two-putting, including the eight-foot clincher on the 18th green. In the first three rounds Garcia was able to make a par on the final hole, but when it counted the most, his par putt liped out. His fault wasn't that he missed the putt on 18, it was how Sergio got to the 18th green that was his downfall.

Off the tee box on the 499 yard par four, Garcia opted to use iron in order to avoid a Van Der Veld moment. But leaving yourself a 250 yard second shot when you're trying to make par to capture your first Major isn't exactly setting yourself up.

"It's not fun standing there when you know you're hitting the ball well and you know what you have to do," the 27-year-old Garcia said. "You're hitting a 3-iron, and you know you need to make par. It's not very easy."

As much as you can say Garcia's putter was to blame and that his style of choice isn't good, you can also argue that Garcia needed to man-up on the last hole, stare "Home," Van Der Veld, and Carnoustie in the face and blast a 3-wood center cut.

As much as I enjoyed the drama of watching Harrington put it into the water on 18 twice, and as much as I enjoyed seeing an extra four holes, I really wanted to see Garcia convert. I can't help to think it was Sergio's lack of experience and his reluctance to really go for it that prevented him from taking home the Claret Jug, and not the belly putter.