Sergio Garcia is the latest twentysomething to win a big tournament this season, joining Masters champ Trevor Immelman (28), who is only 24 days older than The Players Championship winner.

After wondering where are all the young players to challenge Tiger Woods, the PGA Tour has served up a platter of winners in their 20s this season -- eight of 'em, including Anthony Kim, 22, the youngest player on tour. He won the Wachovia Championship two weeks ago for his first PGA Tour victory and was in the hunt for two rounds at the TPC Stadium Course.

Garcia, though, hardly seems like a kid anymore, a fact even he concedes.

It seems like eons ago since he went running up the fairway at Medinah, leaping and doing a leg split to watch an improbable 3-iron he struck from the base of a tree, his eyes closed at impact. Garcia, 19 at the time, was chasing Woods -- literally -- that day in the 1999 PGA Championship, and he's still trying to catch him.

"I feel like an old man, an old 28-year-old," Garcia said after his playoff victory Sunday against Paul Goydos.

Nonetheless, Garcia remains one of two players on the PGA Tour -- Phil Mickelson is the other -- capable of applying some kind of measurable pressure on Woods' dominant reign as the world's top player and creating the type of rivalry that golf desperately craves. He is young, talented and immensely marketable, and he has enough flair and charm in his Spanish blood to wipe away those moments when he has been petulant and, at times, paranoid.

What's more, with the exception of his putting and short game, Garcia has the physical talent to nearly match Woods shot for shot. He is a better driver because he is just as long and more accurate and is his equal with long-irons shots. And, Garcia, like Woods, has spent a lot of time in the gym, reshaping his physique and developing the core strength that allows him to whip through the ball.

Garcia has more victories (7) than any player under 30 on the PGA Tour, yet he will continue to be measured by the major titles he hasn't won. His best chance was in last year's British Open, when he missed an 8-foot putt at the 72nd hole that would have given him the claret jug.

The Players Championship isn't a major, but it's the next closest thing. Garcia's victory reminds everyone that, even as an old 28, he has not gone away.

It was not only good for Garcia. It was good for golf.

Garcia is only the second European player to win The Players Championship in the event's 35-year history. Who is the other? Answer at end.

It has not been easy for Dick Fuhrer to let go. Never is, with something you love.

He bought a nine-hole public golf course named Ridgeview in 1980, designed and built 12 new holes and turned the layout into an 18-hole private club known as St. Jude Golf Club in Chicora, near Butler. For 27 years, St. Jude was hailed as a tight, demanding layout with some of the best greens in Western Pennsylvania.

"As good as Oakmont," said Fuhrer, an Oakmont Country Club member who owns a financial services business in Fox Chapel. "They were tremendous greens -- fast and true."

But, with bad knees that have left him immobilized and losing $100,000 annually on maintaining the club, Fuhrer sold St. Jude in November to Philadelphia businessman Colin Dunwoody -- a decision he doesn't regret but one that has left him with a lot of heartache.

Like many other smaller clubs in Western Pennsylvania seeking to generate revenue, St. Jude is opening its doors to the public -- allowing limited daily-fee play Monday through Friday ($46 includes cart).

"I loved it," Fuhrer said. "It was a challenge, but I enjoyed it. I don't regret it one bit. I'd still have the club if I could get around and see all my people.

"I had both knees replaced in 2000 and they were OK for three or four years. But I became immobile and had to use a walker. Driving was a problem, and with the $100,000 it was costing me each year, it was too much to carry."

Fuhrer is gone, but the two people he hired 27 years ago to run the golf operation -- head professional Ron Milanovich and course superintendent Mike Dunn -- remain at St. Jude. The course was so named because Fuhrer said his mother taught him when he was young to pray to St. Jude -- the patron saint of lost causes.

"It wasn't long, but it was hard," Fuhrer said. "We had some tremendous holes. I was proud of it."

The second of two U.S. Open local qualifiers is today at Quicksilver Golf Club in Midway, where 53 players are trying for four spots in the 18-hole competition.

Among those competing are professionals John Aber of Allegheny CC, Joe Boros of Treesdale and former mini-tour player Kevin Shields. Also, former amateur Rick Stimmel, who qualified for the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, is in the field.

They will be trying to get into a 36-hole sectional qualifier, the last step on the road to the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in LaJolla, Calif.

When TaylorMade debuted its Burner driver last year, stores had a tough time keeping the club in stock. The combination of increased distance and a low retail price ($299) made it a huge success, outselling the company's Superquad model.

Seeking to capitalize on the popularity, TaylorMade wasted little time developing an improved model -- the Tour Burner -- which has been on the market for less than a month. The driver has a higher retail price ($499) because it combines the best qualities of last year's model with some of the same properties in the Burner TP model used by tour professionals.

"It's a combination of the two," said Tom Olsavsky, TaylorMade's director of product development. "The purpose with the new driver is to allow the average player to generate the same launch conditions as the tour-caliber players, which promotes greater distance."

The Tour Burner is able to do that by using a smaller crown that is 12 percent lighter than the old model and thinner clubhead walls to redistribute the weight and create a lower center of gravity in the clubface. In addition, the light 60-gram shaft with an extra-light grip allows the Tour Burner to retain the same light feel as the Burner, not to mention promote faster swing speed for increased distance.

• The Parkway West Rotary Charity Classic is July 21 at Diamond Run GC. Entry is $180 and includes gift, box lunch, dinner and auction. Call 724-947-1234.

• The PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., offers a summer-only family value package that features unlimited golf on the Haig, Squire and Estate courses, unlimited range balls, breakfast for two per day, one golf clinic and free golf for children under 12 after 2 p.m. for $99 per night. The package runs through Sept. 30. Go to www.pgaresort.com or call 1-800-633-9150.

Sandy Lyle of Scotland in 1987.