Sergio sparkles as Woods has trouble

Sergio Garcia overcame early nerves and remained the man to catch in the Open at Carnoustie today – with more than a little help from an off-form Tiger Woods.

But now comes the hard part for the 27-year-old Spaniard. Twelve times he has finished in the top 10 in majors, but not once yet has he achieved victory.

A chance to follow in the footsteps of his compatriots Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal has arrived again on the same course where eight years ago he had the worst two rounds of his professional career.

From the nightmare of his 30 over par total then – rounds of 89 and 83 left him dead last – the world number 13 today added a level par 71 to his sparkling opening 65, A shot-a-hole improvement over the two days.

And with Woods’ bid for a third successive Claret Jug hitting trouble from the moment he hooked an iron out of bounds off the first tee Garcia’s six under par halfway total of 136 was always likely to keep him at the top of the leaderboard in the windy conditions.

South Korean KJ Choi, with two recent wins on the US Tour one place ahead of Garcia on the world rankings, looked for a while as if he might at least draw level with him after birdies at the 14th and 15th put him one behind.

But he was almost in the Barry Burn with his closing drive and with a bogey five had to settle for a second successive 69.

Choi was still second on his own, but out on the course Austrian Markus Brier and Americans Stewart Cink and Rich Beem all had the opportunity to improve on their three under position.

Alongside them, but in the clubhouse, was Garcia’s fellow countryman Miguel Angel Jimenez (70), while Jim Furyk and Boo Weekley handed in two under aggregates and Lee Westwood and Alastair Forsyth were among those in on one under.

Sadly, 18-year-old Northern Ireland amateur Rory McIlroy failed to rediscover the magic of an initial 68 that had put him joint third. But even with a 76 he was safely inside the likely halfway cut mark at two over.

And that was more than world number two Phil Mickelson could say. With a double bogey on the last he crashed to a 77 and six over.

World number one Woods, joint eighth overnight on two under, double-bogeyed the first and after a birdie on the next dropped further shots on the fifth and eighth.

It could have been far worse for Woods. He was close to the out-of-bounds fence on the long sixth, scrambled a par at the ninth off a really poor approach into sand and then, for the second day running, had incredible good fortune on the 466-yard 10th.

In his opening 69 it came with a free drop away from a bad lie in the rough because of television cables that strangely could not be moved – even the Royal and Ancient Club’s Director of Rules could not answer why today – and on his return he might easily have hit his approach into the Barry Burn.

Instead his ball came down in the trees, narrowly missing two people blissfully unaware that they could have been hit, and with a clear path to the flag he salvaged another par. But he was seven behind at that point.

Garcia, who played in the final group with Woods at Hoylake last year and shot 73 to the American’s 67, had required no such breaks. It was skill that got him out of trouble.

The Ryder Cup star, whose teammate and nearest first round challenger Paul McGinley fell back early in his round, admitted to having the dreaded “shank” with a nine-iron to the first.

“I am not going to lie. I was a little bit nervous at the beginning. But in 2003 at Sun City I shanked with the same club and managed to win the tournament. It’s not a bad thing.”

In 1999 he began the Open with a triple bogey seven from the same area, but this time one recovery shot rather than three did the job and it was a simply brilliant one, the ball flopping over the bunker and running down to within two feet of the flag.

Asked if he would be putting it in his private collection of miracles Garcia smiled and said: “No – it was just a good, solid shot.”

He did bogey the 412-yard fourth, but up-and-down from a bunker at the 578-yard sixth repaired that and after dropping another shot on the 11th he came back again with another birdie on Carnoustie’s other par five, the 514-yard 14th.

Inevitably, his so far unsuccessful quest for a major came up in his interviews afterwards.

So did he get bored or frustrated or even insulted by the question: “When will you win the first major?”

“Never – first time I heard it,” he joked. “I’m always going to say the same thing. I’m trying. I’m trying to win as many majors as I can. That’s all I can do.

“Last year I managed to shoot 23 under in the last two majors and didn’t win. What can you do?” He was fifth and third, both times behind Woods.