Golf: Garcia will stay focused at British Open.
Spaniard will be getting married after tournament
SOUTHPORT, England — Two weeks ago, Sergio Garcia was wearing the green jacket while sitting in the Royal Box at the All England Club watching his good friend, Rafael Nadal, win on Centre Court during Wimbledon.
In less than two weeks he will walk down the aisle for the first time and marry Angela Akins in a lavish ceremony in Texas.
For now, however, Garcia’s attention is solely on the British Open, the one major he has held closest to his heart since he was a child.
“No, (my mind is) on the Open, don’t worry. It’s going to be where it has to be this week. Angela has been doing a great job of getting everything ready for the wedding,” Garcia said upon his arrival to Royal Birkdale, home to the 146th edition of the British Open.
“Obviously we’re really excited for next week. But we have something that we’re also extremely excited about this week, and we want to be here giving everything we have.”
It’s evident that Garcia, long haunted by his failure to win a major championship, is in a good place these days after snapping a 0-for-73 streak in the four biggest events in golf last April at the Masters. His smiles are brighter, his playful attitude abundant and his penchant to mope nearly non-existent.
He’s ranked No. 5 in the world, has two wins this year and is coming off a tie for second in the BMW International Open in his last start.
Yet he insists he hasn’t changed since he beat Justin Rose on the first playoff hole at Augusta National and drove off Magnolia Lane with the green jacket.
“I still treat everyone the same way that I did before, with respect, and the way my parents taught me to. It’s great to be able to have that extra jacket in my closet and to have that major. But anything else, it doesn’t change,” Garcia said. “I mean, I don’t think I’m happier. I’m really happy. But fortunately for me I’ve been very happy pretty much my whole life. So that hasn’t changed.
“Like we say in Spain, the more sugar, the sweeter it is. So obviously winning the Masters made it even sweeter, but it doesn’t mean that I wasn’t happy before. So I don’t think it really changes that much.”
Seeing the large yellow scoreboards and all the signage associated with the Open ignited his spirits as soon as he drove into Birkdale. This is his 21st start in the Open. He has 10 top-10s in the event, with a playoff loss in 2007 and a tie for second in 2014 as his best results. In his two starts at Birkdale, he tied for 29th in 1998 and 51st in 2008.
While he has added a green jacket to his wardrobe, he said that doesn’t mean he’s a better fit to win any major. Yes, the win did prop up his confidence and did remove the major monkey off his back, but the win came in April.
“I am confident about my possibilities, but I can’t tell you if I’m going to be right up there on Sunday with a chance,” Garcia said. “I’m hoping that I will be, but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that every week . ... You have to realize that after winning Augusta, you still want more majors.”