Garcia's search goes on

By Carl Markham, Press Association Sport Last updated: 4th July 2009

After 15 top-10 finishes in the majors, Sergio Garcia will hope he can make the big breakthrough at Turnberry.

If Lucas Glover's success in last month's US Open should prove anything to Sergio Garcia it is that he should not give up hope in his quest for a major title.

The Spaniard is regarded as the best player never to win one of golf's premier tournaments but it is not through lack of trying and in recent years he has come close.

It must be frustrating for the Ryder Cup star to see the likes of Glover - just two months his senior - winning the US Open at Bethpage after a previous best major finish of joint 20th.

Garcia has 15 top-10 finishes in the majors, with all but one of them coming in the last nine years. His most consistent season was in 2002 when his worst major finish was joint 10th but undoubtedly his best chance of winning came at Carnoustie two years ago.

The Open is the Spaniard's favourite major, highlighted by his six top-10s in the last eight years, and he came with a few agonising inches of lifting the Claret Jug on the famous Scottish links.

Garcia had led the tournament from the opening day and began his final round with a three-shot lead. That came down to one putt for the title on the fearsome 18th but his ball did not drop and he went into a four-hole play-off with Padraig Harrington.

He knew his luck was not in when his tee-shot at the short 16th hit the pin and bounced 20 feet away. Garcia went on to lose the play-off by a single stroke.

Lesser players may have been crushed by the experience but the 29-year-old, who has spent years battling to find a putting game good enough to win a major, brushed off the disappointment saying: "I just have to move on and hopefully do better next time."

Getting over it was helped by victory in the 2008 The Players Championship at Sawgrass - the event Americans like to call "the fifth major".

That same year he finished joint second in the US PGA having, ironically, posted his worst placing in four years at the Open a month previously.

However, since mid-March the Spaniard's form dipped alarmingly after he admitted his break up with girlfriend Morgan-Leigh Norman - daughter of two-time Open champion Greg - had affected him badly.

He showed signs of fighting his way back after finishing joint 10th at Bethpage and as he heads into the Open Garcia is confident all his past experiences can only help him as he strives for that sought-after major triumph.

"I think as you get older, you learn from things you've done in the past, and you try to mature from those things," he explained.

"I am the way I am - I can change a little bit but not too much because then I wouldn't be myself.

"But if I didn't think it was possible I would probably be back at home watching Borriol (his local football team) or something like that.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge. That's why we practice. And when we go out there we try our hardest.

"Sometimes it comes out all right, sometimes it doesn't. But we're always trying our best.

"I'm very proud with the way my career has gone. I think there's no doubt when you turn pro you hope you can go out there and win every tournament."

There were many at Carnoustie two years ago who openly backed the popular Spaniard to come out on top against Harrington despite the significance of an Irish win.

Should he get himself into a similar situation at Turnberry there are likely to be even more willing him on.

Carl Markham, Press Association Sport