Garcia at it again

Sergio Garcia, who came from four down to beat Ryder Cup team-mate Padraig Harrington in the quarter-finals, was staging another recovery act at Wentworth today.

After losing three of the first six holes to New Zealander Michael Campbell, the 22-year-old Spaniard clawed his way back to all square at lunch.

He was round in a six-under-par 66 to Campbell’s 67.

In the other semi-final – also delayed for 30 minutes by early-morning frost - Open champion Ernie Els was four up after five on Fiji’s Vijay Singh, but only two ahead after 16 holes.

Garcia was not happy with his start, angrily swishing his club after losing the first two holes.

The sole remaining European in the event carved his first drive into the crowd and then played a poor chip eight feet short to lose the hole.

His tee shot to the 154-yard second landed on the green but rolled back into the guarding bunker. Although he played a fine recovery to three feet, Campbell - conqueror already of Nick Faldo after a record 43 holes and defending champion Ian Woosnam by three and two – holed from four feet for a birdie two.

Even when Garcia eagled the 497-yard fourth with a six-iron to 10 feet New Zealander Campbell followed him in from nine to remain two up, and the Kiwi then made a 25-footer from off the green at the sixth to stretch his advantage.

The tide started to turn, though, when Garcia holed from 27 feet at the next and Campbell missed from 11.

At the 11th Garcia was inches away from an eagle two and, after losing the long 12th to a birdie four, he stepped up his game again.

Campbell, having almost chipped in at the 13th, was only seven feet from the hole at the 179-yard 14th. But Garcia followed him in to five feet and he was the one to hole.

Then at the 17th – a hole on which Harrington had twice gone out of bounds against Garcia – Campbell almost did the same. Although the ball stayed in play after clattering into the trees, he could do no better than a bogey six – and the match became all square.

Against a man who had fired a championship-record round of 60 yesterday, the last thing Singh wanted to do today was hand Els any holes on a plate.

But that is exactly what happened when they began.

Singh, who lost to Els in the 1996 final and then gained revenge in the 1997 final, bogeyed the first three holes – and Els needed only to par them all to move into a three-up lead.

It was Colin Montgomerie who was on the receiving end of Els’ brilliant performance in the quarter-finals, while Singh came from behind to knock out Retief Goosen.

A four-iron wide of the green was the start of Singh’s problems when play eventually began on a West Course which still had frost in the shaded areas.

Because of that, placing was being allowed on the fairways. But that did not help the former Masters and US PGA champion as he left his chip 15 feet short, missed that, then found bunkers at the next two holes and failed to get up and down both times.

Els did at least have to birdie to win the short fifth, and Singh’s confidence was boosted when he hit his pitch to the sixth only a foot from the flag.

At the 10th the gap was back to two, Singh’s six-iron tee shot hitting the flag and stopping four feet away – and Els’ bogey at the 15th, where he drove into sand, cut the lead to one.

However, at the very moment he wanted to apply more pressure Singh hooked into a ditch at the 16th and lost the hole.

Between them Singh and Els have won all four major titles, Els adding the Open this summer to his two US Open crowns – both achieved at the expense of Montgomerie.

Garcia and Campbell are still seeking their first majors. But Garcia was the only player this season to finish in the top 10 of all four, and Campbell is still remembered for leading the 1995 Open at St Andrews with a round to go when relatively unknown.