Garcia overcomes injury scare

Sergio Garcia was a mightily relieved man today when he shot a 71 at the Scottish Open after injuring his groin sprinting through the rain.

“After my round yesterday I went to the gym and when I came out it was hosing down,” said the Spanish star. “I started running up a hill and felt something.

“Thank goodness in golf we don’t have to sprint. I can feel it walking uphill, but the good thing is that it does not bother me playing. I won’t be able to do any aerobics the next couple of weeks, though.”

Or indeed any more cricket matches, having turned out for the caddies against the press for the second year running at Helensburgh on Tuesday evening.

Garcia, no mean batsman even with a distinctly dodgy baseball-style technique, goes into the final round at Loch Lomond on six under par and delighted after three weeks off to be still in contention in his only warm-up tournament for next week’s British Open.

“I’m not too desperate to win here,” he added, even though his last victory was 22 months ago. “We try to win every week, but the most important thing is to get momentum on your side, get a feel of your swing and competition.

“It’s good to be up there and get those juices flowing.”

Garcia stood seven under with four to play, but after the disappointment of bogeys on the next two he finished on a high note with a glorious iron to six feet on the last.

The British Open is back at Carnoustie, where in 1999 he came dead last with horrific rounds of 89 and 83 – and that after winning his first pro title in Ireland a fortnight earlier and then firing an opening 62 at Carnoustie and finishing runner-up to Colin Montgomerie.

“Definitely I’m looking forward to going back,” he commented. “I always look forward to going back to the Open. I’ve always said it’s my favourite.

“I’d like to say I’ve played well on every single course I’ve played, but it’s not that way. The set-up was a bit wrong, but I hear it’s different this time and I’m kind of more in control of myself now.”