As Spain Reigns, García Inches Closer

SOUTHPORT, England, July 15 -- They are calling it the "Spanish Summer" of sports in the British Isles, what with Spain's dramatic victory over Germany in the European soccer championships last month and Rafael Nadal's stunning triumph over Roger Federer in arguably the greatest men's final in Wimbledon history two weeks ago, a month after Nadal also beat Federer for the French Open title.

Does that mean this now is the time for Sergio García, Nadal's good friend and countryman, to finally break through for his first victory in a major golf championship starting Thursday at the 137th British Open at Royal Birkdale?

"I hope so," García said Tuesday. "It would be great. But I know what I have to do and hopefully it will be good enough. If I manage to win here, it will be something. But it's not going to be easy."

Where would a García victory in the oldest major of them all rank in relation to soccer and tennis back home?

"Without a question, the football [soccer]," García said. "In Spain, football is the biggest."

And between García and Nadal?

"Me."

No one ever has accused García, 28, of a lack of modesty or confidence. The former "El Niño" sounded much like the grown man British bookmakers have installed as the favorite to carry the Claret Jug back to his home town of Castellon, where his father, Victor, a teaching professional, still is his son's main instructor.

"I feel like my game is probably as good as it's ever been," García said. "I don't feel complete, or completed, but I feel like I'm getting closer. I feel good with my game. I feel good with myself. I feel like I'm getting better as a player every tournament I go around. I'm learning more things about myself. I've just got to make sure that I keep doing the right things and I keep believing in myself.

"The most important thing for me is to give myself a chance on Sunday. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn't, but at least be out there and feel like you have a chance of winning."

García has had multiple chances to win major championships, particularly in the British Open. He has 13 top 10 finishes in majors, six of them in the British, his favorite tournament. In 2006, he played in the final group with Tiger Woods at Royal Liverpool, but shot 1-over-par 73 and tied for fifth.

Last year at Carnoustie, he also was in the last group and needed only to par the 18th hole to prevail in regulation. Instead, his seemingly perfectly struck eight-foot putt for par just missed on the right edge, and he lost by a shot to Padraig Harrington in the four-hole aggregate playoff.

García moaned that day about the golfing gods not being on his side and how he had hit every shot in the playoff exactly where he wanted. He was harshly criticized in the media (and privately by some of his peers) for that reaction, but he also insisted a year later that it did not take him long to get over the most crushing loss of his career.

"Obviously, Sunday night and Monday were a little tough, " he said. "Other than that, you think about the week, you think about everything you did, and you realize that you did the best you could. I felt like I hit a great putt in regulation to win the Open. Unfortunately it didn't go in. In the playoff, I hit some really good shots, some really good putts, and unfortunately they didn't drop. There's nothing else you can do."

Harrington said Tuesday he knew that if his double bogey in regulation at the 72nd hole had cost him the Open, he would have faced many of the same questions García has had to deal with.

"I would be aware myself of the twin impostors of success and failure, how similar they are," Harrington said. "Over the years, I've done some great things and looked like I've lost tournaments and I've won tournaments where I've struggled home and won it. I realize the difference between victory and defeat, and all players have to manage that area of the game.

"When you do win, you're put up on a pedestal and everything is great. When you don't, it's very easy to be cut down at the knees. A player has to keep going through his process, keep doing his thing and endeavor to play every event the same, not necessarily focusing on the results. The key is you've got to want to put yourself on the line, put your neck out there. It couldn't have been the most enjoyable experience for Sergio last year, but I'm sure he'd be very happy to be in the same situation again this year and have another go at it. That's the difference between being a winner and forever not having a chance."

García has one big-time victory this season at the Players Championship, the "fifth major," when he prevailed in a sudden-death playoff against Paul Goydos. It's a victory he said "obviously gives you a lot of confidence, and I've been pretty good after that."

"The strength of the field, the difficulty of the course, it really felt like a major," he said. "The winning score [5-under 283] was like a major. It's obviously nice, but it's not the end. You've got to keep moving forward."

In his four tournaments since that victory, García has had two top five finishes, including a solo second in brutal weather conditions at the European Open two weeks ago outside London, when he shot 66 in the final round in rain and 30-mph winds. Similar breezes were blowing at Birkdale on Tuesday, and more dodgy weather is in the long-range forecast over the four tournament days.

García said no matter the conditions, he always has adored links-style golf ever since he first came to play in these parts as a 12-year-old, when he also was the club champion at his home course in Spain.

"I've been fortunate to play a lot of links golf, and I love it," he said. "It's different, and it brings in so many parts of your game and they have to be on, with a lot of imagination, which is always good when you get challenged on the course."

As for the challenge of continuing this glorious Spanish Summer on the seaside links of Royal Birkdale, Garcia said "that would be great. Just trying to keep up with my fellow countrymen."