Garcia plays himself into contention
Masters champion moves up Players leaderboard
Poulter making the most of his US card reprieve
Four-over after six holes in the first round, it seemed certain that Sergio Garcia was going to take the familiar hungover route to Players also-ran for a recently-crowned Masters champion. Yet as if to prove this is not the Sergio of old, the Spaniard goes into the final day in contention after a tremendously gutsy fightback.
His 67 on a desperately tricky Sawgrass day of winds and firm conditions was Garcia at his very best; at the very best which saw him break his major curse at Augusta four weeks ago.
On five-under he will have chances to emulate his nemesis Tiger Woods in becoming the only professional to win the Masters and The Players in the same year.
Just to be in position is an achievement after that four-putt on the fifth on Thursday morning. Garcia confirmed that his wretched start had everything to do with his career-changing feat in Georgia. “I felt like I was in chains in the first round because of because how overwhelming everything has been,” Garcia said. “I was thinking, ‘come on, you have to play well after winning the Masters, you have to, you have to, you have to…’ And I kind of put a little bit too much pressure on myself and I tightened up.”
Sawgrass folklore already shows that a hole-in-one on the famous 17th loosened him up considerably. Garcia was able to sneak in on one-over and a 71 ensured he would be playing at the weekend.
“That hole-in-one helped a lot and then making the cut freed up today and I could play more like I was playing the week of the Masters,” he said.
Self-belief is fairly oozing out of his body. Garcia has the Green Jacket in the wardrobe at the nearby hotel where he is staying and nobody should be surprised if he completes the double today. “I’ve always been confident with myself and always believed in the ability that I have,” Garcia said.
“But I’m not going to lie, it does help to win a major and to win the Masters the way I did it.”
When Garcia left the course he was only three behind pacesetter Kyle Stanley, the American who had eight holes remaining. At this stage Ian Poulter was threatening not so much to look a gift horse in the mouth but gallop it into the sunshine to save his faltering career. Two weeks ago Poulter believed he would not be here, having ap- parently lost his US card. But thanks to the diligence of Brian Gay, and his wife Kimberley, Poulter was handed a lifeline. The PGA Tour had made miscalculations of FedEx Cup points for those on a medical exemption and so the playing privileges of Gay and Poulter were reinstated. The Englishman arrived here determined to make the most of his turnaround in fortunes and up to the 14th hole of his third round had done so quite spectacularly.
Having posted a 67 on Friday, Poulter moved to six-under, two off the pace, courtesy of a birdie and no bogeys.
Despite having dropped to 197th in the world rankings, the 41-year-old has assured anyone who will listen that his incredible story is not yet over and a win here, which would at the very least rank alongside his two World Golf Championship victories, would return him to the elite in emphatic style.
As the third day was reaching its denouement, Rory McIlroy was undergoing further treatment on his troubling back. The world No 2 shot a commendable 71, but on one-under will seemingly only be playing for the lesser placings today. In truth, the 28-year- old will be more worried about the results of the MRI scan he will undergo in Belfast tomorrow. In January, he suffered a stress fracture of a rib which caused him to miss almost two months.
Certainly, it has done nothing for his marital relations here in Ponte Vedra, having married Erica Stoll three weeks ago. Explained McIlroy: “I’m trying to sleep on my right side and that’s facing away from Erica and she’s like, ‘ Why? Are you not happy with me? What’s going on?’.
“And I’m like, ‘No, no, it ’s fine I’m just taking care of my back’.”