Sergio Garcia is confident his victory at the Players Championship will help him break through at this week’s U.S. Open and shed the tag as the best current player who has not won a major title.
“I guess winning the Players (is) something huge and that gives you a lot of confidence, winning on a tough golf course and probably the deepest field in golf we play all year,” the Spaniard told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a great victory.”
World number seven Garcia, 28, came tantalizingly close to winning last year’s British Open before losing to Padraig Harrington in a playoff.
“I had a good week last week too,” said Garcia, whose strong finish at the St. Jude left him one shot out of a playoff. “I’m looking forward to keeping that momentum going and hopefully give myself a good chance this weekend.”
Garcia, a golf prodigy who won his club championship at age 12 and 19 amateur titles, burst on the professional scene as a 19-year-old when he challenged Tiger Woods in a thrilling finish at the 1999 U.S. PGA Championship.
He finished second, one shot behind Woods at Medinah, and seemed destined to challenge him for many major titles.
Garcia said lessons learned from last year’s near-miss at Carnoustie and his playoff triumph at the Players, golf’s so-called “fifth major,” could help him over the hurdle.
“The feelings were similar,” Garcia said about coming down the stretch at the Players compared with the British Open.
“Every time you’re trying to win a big event like those two you’re a little bit nervous and you’re trying to control your emotions. I learned from both of them.
“I think all these years have really made me mature and get to know myself even better as a golfer and as a person and kind of control myself even better when I’m coming down the stretch,” he said. “We’ll see if we can start achieving that.
“I try to ask myself to play well, to give myself chances. I’ve had my chances so that’s one goal accomplished. Now we have to try to get it to the next level and hopefully start winning majors.”
