Apart from Tiger
Woods, Sergio Garcia is one of the hottest players in golf and the 21-year-old
Spaniard is hoping to continue his form at the U.S. Open starting on Thursday
at Southern Hills.
"I've been hitting the ball extremely
well," said Garcia, who finished tied for eighth at the Byron Nelson, won the
Colonial for his first U.S. Tour title, and tied for second at the Memorial recently.
"I've been practising with my wedges
and hitting it a lot closer. More than anything, I'm playing pretty solid and
my putting has been better," he said on Tuesday.
"I'm looking forward to going out there
and putting myself in contention like I have lately. I can't wait to start playing."
Garcia said he had extra incentive
to play well since the U.S. Open is a prime opportunity to earn points towards
making the European Ryder Cup team for this September's matches against the U.S.
at The Belfry in England.
"It puts a little more pressure on
me, but it encourages me too," said Garcia, whose exploits on the U.S. Tour do
not count in the Ryder Cup standings.
"I really want to be on the Ryder Cup
team and I really need these points. We still have the British Open, Loch Lomond
and the PGA. I should be able to make it.
"I really had a great time with (Jose
Maria) Olazabal and (Miguel Angel) Jimenez in '99 at Brookline and it would be
great to be their team mates again."
