Sergio Garcia finally won a major. Well, sort of.

Last weekend's Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass is considered the unofficial fifth major on the PGA Tour, and in my opinion, it is every bit a major tournament as the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship.

Even when I used to play the TPC Sawgrass course on my old Super Nintendo system -- Yeah, I know I'm dating myself -- it was an extremely tough course to score on. Pete Dye's famous water hazards are everywhere, and there are very few bailout areas to play it safe.

That being said, Sergio Garcia's performance was brilliant, and his putting was solid enough to perhaps finally get the golfing media off his back. All I've heard for the last couple of years is how poor a putter Garcia is. His lessons with putting guru Stan Utley have apparently worked, and maybe now it's time for him to reach his vast potential.

Few players outside of Tiger Woods have the all-around ball-striking ability and creative short-game talents that Garcia possesses. If he can keep his head on straight -- let's face it, Sergio is a stubborn guy who acts like a little brat sometimes -- I wouldn't be surprised to see him vault up the World Rankings to at least challenge Tiger for the top spot.

By the way, I'm still wondering why there was so much criticism about the famous 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass. Granted, it's extremely challenging, but a short par-3 that played between 125 and 150 yards shouldn't be that much of a problem for the best players in the world. Many of the players complained the entire tournament. When you're the best, you should want to play the best players and compete on the most challenging holes. Why all the whining?

Of course, if I was playing that hole, I'd be whining, too, but I'm not a member of the PGA Tour.