The Open 2011: My desire is back, says resurgent Sergio García

Given the Open's capacity to produce stories of note, it is little surprise to see Sergio García in the top five of most bookmakers' lists to lift the Claret Jug on Sunday. García was a belated name on the Sandwich entry list, only sealing a place with a runner-up finish at the BMW International Open three weeks ago. It is from circumstances such as these that major winners can sometimes emerge. Before his qualification, onlookers would struggle to name 156 players more worthy of an Open entry than García. Still regarded as one of the finest ball-strikers in golf, the Spaniard has routinely seen his form undermined by putting woes. Matters of the mind also bothered García within the past 12 months. "Early last year I wouldn't have even tried to qualify for the US Open, or cared about making it here or not," García explained of a period when his golfing appetite disappeared. "The good thing now is my desire is back, I am enjoying the game, the feeling is definitely different." A complete break from the sport has triggered an upturn in fortunes. García finished tied for seventh at the recent US Open with his Open record decent enough to suggest further improvement may arrive in England. "It's been hard," admitted the 31-year-old. "Some time around the US Open last year I was thinking to myself: 'I need to take a break, I'm not where I should be.' "I took at least a couple of months off which really helped, and throughout last winter things got a little better. I could feel that it was getting better inside. I played a lot of football, tennis, spent time with friends and family and just recharged. It meant that when I started out this year I started to feel some different feelings inside with some good rounds. So enjoyment began to stem from that and it has just grown." García attended Celtic Manor as an unofficial vice-captain, cheerleader even, for Colin Montgomerie at the Ryder Cup. García regarded that as "one of the hardest things I have done" as the reality of not playing in the successful European team hit home. It is difficult not to feel that his path could have been so different, had García and not Padraig Harrington triumphed in an Open play-off, at Carnoustie in 2007. There were even brief and recent thoughts, García conceded, about stepping away from his career altogether. "At the beginning it crossed my mind but not towards the end," he said. "I was ready to play again. Something inside me was missing playing and that's why I came back." That return has come with a fresh approach. "I try not to take things so hard but it's difficult as golfers, we're always pushing ourselves and striving. I am trying to relax more out there, and accept it if things are not happening. I still need to get better but I do enjoy it more than the last couple of years." The key question, then, is whether or not García can finally endorse his natural ability by winning a major title. "I feel like I could," he said. "I can see a lot of good things happening. That's my goal, to be up there and have a chance of winning. At the end of the day, it would be great to win majors but it's not a do or die thing. If it happens it would be awesome; if not, it's not a disaster for me." Fresh approach, indeed.