Sergio Garcia summed up his day, his week, maybe even his career, with one small gesture Sunday.

Garcia lagged a 45-foot putt from the fringe to 3 feet for par on the famed 17th at TPC Sawgrass, then kissed his putter.

The stick that tormented him so many times before, including earlier in the week and most notably at last year’s British Open, became his trusted ally in the final round at The Players Championship.

The 28-year-old Spaniard rolled in one critical putt after another on a blustery day, none bigger than the 7-footer for par on No. 18 that forced a playoff against Paul Goydos, and clinched the next best thing to a major with a near-perfect tee shot in sudden death.

“It feels good,” Garcia said. “These were tough greens to putt on this week, as quick as they were with the wind and everything.

“It’s definitely getting there, but there’s still room for improvement, which is good.”

Goydos, who started the day with a one-shot lead, could have won it in regulation. But he pushed his tee shot on No. 18 in the right rough, hacked out to about 50 yards in front of the green, chunked a pitching wedge to 15 feet, missed the par putt and created the first playoff in 21 years at The Players.

It didn’t last long.

Goydos, hitting first, watched helplessly as a gust caused his wedge to balloon into the cloudy skies and land with a splash a few feet in front of the green.

“The hole was designed to do exactly what it did. It got me instead of somebody else,” Goydos said.

Garcia, with no margin for error, followed with a wedge that landed on the green, caught a slope and stopped 4 feet away. He missed the birdie putt, but it didn’t matter.

“I played good golf, and as people have found out, that doesn’t mean win unfortunately,” Goydos said. “You can’t control it. No defense. I couldn’t tackle the little guy. ... You can’t kneecap him. You just have to accept the guy beat you and move on.”

Garcia and Goydos each finished at 5-under 283.

Garcia, whose seven PGA Tour victories are the most by any player under age 30, earned $1.71 million from the richest purse in golf and solidified himself as a major contender with the U.S. Open a month away.

“The goal is to keep getting better, and the only thing this tells me is to keep working hard and to believe in myself,” Garcia said. “And when I do believe in myself, I think there’s not a lot of guys out there that can beat me.