Garcia revels in home success

Ernie Els won €1.4m yesterday, Sergio Garcia just over a tenth of that, but it would be hard to tell the difference from their reaction.

While Els celebrated his 35th birthday with a record sixth World Match Play title and seven-figure pay-day, Garcia collected the relatively modest sum of €166,000 for winning the Mallorca Classic.

But the Ryder Cup star could not have been more delighted after justifying his decision not to compete against the likes of Els at Wentworth by easing to a fifth European Tour victory at Pula Golf Club.

Garcia carded a final-round 67 for a 12-under-par total of 268, four shots ahead of England’s Simon Khan, who closed with a 71.

“I said from the beginning of the week this was a great decision to come here,” Garcia said after his first win in Europe since the Spanish Open in 2002. “I feel the Spanish people deserve to see me play and unfortunately I haven’t been able to play here until this late in the season.

“I was really committed to coming here and trying to win, unless I win a WGC event or a major I only have a few chances to win in Europe, and to be able to do it in Spain makes it even sweeter.

“The way I was playing, maybe I would have had a chance at Wentworth but I don’t care. I’m happy here with my people and it’s a wonderful feeling to come through like I did and play the last 13 holes in five under par.”

Eleventh in the world rankings at the start of the week and 57 places ahead of his nearest challenger, Garcia was as short as 3/1 to win in Mallorca but bogeyed the first two holes yesterday to fall three shots behind playing partner Khan, the Essex golfer opening with a birdie.

“I don’t know why my head wasn’t in the right place at the beginning. I was a bit tentative and Simon started well which put a little bit of pressure on me,” admitted Garcia, who has also won twice on the US Tour this season.

“Getting up and down for par on the third and fourth was huge for me to keep me in the right mood and after that I started loosening up and made a few birdies.”

Crucially, while Garcia saved par on those two holes, Khan – ranked 255th in the world when a shock winner of the Wales Open in June – was dropping shots over the same stretch and a birdie on the sixth drew the Spaniard level.

Both players then birdied the seventh and bogeyed the eighth before Garcia took the lead for the first time with a birdie from eight feet on the ninth.

The key hole proved to be the 11th however, Khan going over the green to bogey while his playing partner holed from four feet for birdie and a decisive two-shot swing.

“That was the key,” admitted Khan, who considered pulling out of the event after being forced to miss Wednesday’s pro-am with flu. “The second shot jumped on me and I had no shot from over the green.

“But to be fair, Sergio showed his class. Just when he needed to, he produced the shots at the right time.

“In the end I’m happy. If I had holed the putts I had over the first two days on the weekend, I feel I could have won, but I never felt comfortable with the putter. And when Sergio had the chance he took control and you can’t fault him for that.”