IF SERGIO Garcia fails to lift the Claret Jug by a single shot tomorrow he will have only himself to blame.
It will be no use complaining the fates are against him as he did last year when he missed out on golf's greatest prize to Padraig Harrington after a play-off despite leading by four shots in the final round.
It will be no good insisting again tha
t he is one of golf's unluckiest players. Not after the way he missed an 18-inch tiddler on the final green at Royal Birkdale for a second-round 73 which left him on five over par at half-way. And that after rolling a 30-foot approach putt serenely up to the hole.
Garcia tried to be philosophical about it. "I didn't rush it," he said. "I was more worried about other things than the putt itself. I was thinking about not treading on anyone else's line, whether or not I should mark it. Then you look up and realise you've missed it. That's what happens sometimes. But it's ok, I'm still alive.
"I feel like I still have a good chance and it's far from over. I've just got to make sure I don't make any mistakes at the weekend."
Garcia's round, sandwiched between a three foot missed putt for a bogey at the first and the calamity at the last, had two dramatic interludes, one utterly wonderful, the other truly ghastly.
The good news came at the 201 yards par three fourth after a tee shot with so much juice on it his ball was left a virtual taxi ride from the pin at the back of the green.
His 70-foot downhill putt snaked this way and that before curling into the hole for a birdie.
"A bomb" was how Garcia described it and, apart from a second birdie on the par five 17th, it produced the one real detonation of applause in a round which struggled for momentum.
The ghastly bit came at the 436 yards par four 11th, where Garcia
took a double-bogey six, a clumsy blemish on a round which otherwise was notable for its scrambling qualities and ability to save par from the dark side of eight feet.
With strong winds forecast for today, that ability to score well when not playing well could become a crucial factor for Garcia – that and being more careful with 18-inch tap-ins.
The full article contains 417 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
