Sergio Garcia back in action - and gunning for top spot
It might be a case of talking a good game, but golf's most infamous nearly-man of the last 10 years returns to action this week insisting he can go on to become world No. 1.
Sergio Garcia spoke positively as he outlined his plans to ascend to the very top, telling his interviewer he was enjoying his golf again, and explaining that he believed he had yet to fulfil his potential.
When he emerged 10 years ago as one of the most exciting prospects in the game, many observers felt certain Garcia was a major winner in the making. But while the 30-year-old has gone close, just edged out to second place at the 2007 Open and both the 1999 and 2008 PGA Championship, Garcia has undergone an alarming slump in recent months, plunging from No. 2 in the world in November 2008 to his current position at No. 68.
The Spaniard took two months out earlier this year, not through injury but just to take a break - but the man called El Nino by his fans clearly still has a burning passion for the game, as embodied by his appearance at the Ryder Cup. As one of Colin Montgomerie's vice captains, Garcia delighted in Europe's close-run victory over the USA.
And Garcia admits that in his time away from golf, he has come to miss the sport - with his time at Celtic Manor proving irksome as well as inspirational, the man admitting it was difficult to feature only in a non-playing capacity at Newport.
Now Garcia hopes his newly re-awoken passion for the game can spark off a revival - and where better to begin than at the Castello Masters, a tournament hosted at a course where his own father is the club professional.
Certainly, Garcia himself knows the Costa Azahar course intimately. He won here in 2008, describing that victory as "one of the most beautiful and emotional of my life." After a dispiriting 2010, Garcia could take the first step towards still more beautiful moments this week.
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