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Your support makes all the difference.Guts got Sergio Garcia through Saturday's carnage; of course, the shotmaking was critical, but it was mainly the young Spaniard's obdurate nature that enabled him to survive the storm. Tiger Woods blown away, Colin Montgomerie driven to despair. Not Garcia. At the end of the day he was still standing, still in contention at two under.
At Carnoustie in 1999, where wind and wicked alterations to the course combined to play havoc with the scoring, Garcia, then only 19 years old, learned his first big lesson as a professional. Already out of it after an opening of 89, he fell into his mother's consoling arms.
Nobody needs to weep for Garcia now, but when will his name be inscribed on a major championship trophy? Garcia felt that Saturday's performance over the back nine was the best golf he has ever played and felt confident of carrying that form into yesterday's final round.
At last, the sun shone, conditions invitingly benign as Garcia set off from the first tee with Scott McCarron. There was plenty of Spanish support but Garcia is popular anyway; even if there are still times when temperament gets the better of him, when constant re-gripping of the club (greatly reduced yesterday) becomes irritating for spectators and playing partners alike, people warm to Garcia like they do to a favourite nephew.
The galleries urge him on in a variety of accents. "Go on Sergio," people shout. "You show them." When Garcia hears such remarks he smiles. A chatterer on the course, he could be seen in amiable conversation with McCarron, doubtless discussing the previous day's horrors.
Going off in the early afternoon, two groups ahead of the leaders, Garcia knew it was imperative to reduce the gap between himself and Els before the big South African could bring his languid swing to bear on proceedings. When coolly compiling a par on the opening hole, where McCarron took a double-bogey six after driving into a fairway bunker, Garcia looked like a man at peace. His ball-striking was faultless, and a terrific approach at the par-four third set up an encouraging birdie. Another birdie at the fifth and Garcia was off and running.
The sounds of an Open Championship are carried on the breeze, a bush telegraph signalling feats and near misses, hope and despair. Arriving at the fourth tee, Garcia had been alerted to a shot dropped by Els at the first. He was now level with the leader but there were others to think about. Padraig Harrington had moved back into contention, Gary Evans and Shigeki Maruyama were making moves. Briefly, Garcia fell into conversation with his caddie. "No mistakes," you could imagine them agreeing.
To be in such a position would probably be enough for the majority of tournament players, but Garcia needs to prove he is a big winner. Never mind the millions he has earned on the US Tour, the tournament victories: it is the majors that count.
When Garcia gave up a shot at the sixth, the audience groaned. Suddenly, he was making things harder for himself as the margin grew narrower. Garcia grimaced and shook his head. That one mistake could cost him the tournament. Jack Nicklaus once said that very few shots, no matter what the result, are perfectly struck. Garcia's golf swing is not a thing of beauty, however there was nothing seriously amiss with his ball-striking as he took on the back nine. Trouble was that he could not move his score forward. Par after par, the occasional crisis overcome, birdie chances squandered, but no sign that a charge to the great prize was imminent.
Garcia's frustration grew more obvious, his grimaces more frequent until, at last, he found a putt and with it another birdie. The pain of golf is almost entirely mental. Nobody kicks you in the head, hinders your progress along the fairway; players are seldom carried from the course; they do not need leg splints; there is no cuts man standing by.
Putting is largely in the head. Garcia shot 69 to finish the tournament at four under, just two shots adrift of the play-off. If Garcia had made his putts, those other guys would not have been called on to work overtime.
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