Garcia pledges future to Europe

Spanish sensation Sergio Garcia has pledged his immediate future to the European Tour despite his extraordinary debut in the United States.

The 19-year-old won 144,000 US dollars by finishing joint third in the Byron Nelson Classic last week in his first professional appearance on the American Tour, ahead of the likes of Tiger Woods and Fred Couples.

He was also the top amateur at the Masters this year before joining the paid ranks to bring an end to a phenomenal amateur career containing more than 70 victories including the British Amateur title.

Garcia has already won over the American public with his performances and personality but he has decided to concentrate on playing in Europe when he gains his tour card.

"The United States is a great country to play in, but I want to focus in Europe," Garcia said ahead of the £1.2million Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe event at St Leon-Rot, his second professional tournament in Europe.

"This year, I want to get both my US and European Tour cards and if I do that, then I will play in Europe next year.

"Europe is a great tour to get some experience, and that's what I need. You also have the Ryder Cup and you have to play in Europe to earn the points to make the team.

"If I got the US card, I would have to play at least 12 tournaments plus the three US majors, and that's almost half a year."

A Ryder Cup berth this year is not out of the question for the prodigiously-talented teenager with Woods and Open champion Mark O'Meara predicting a bright future for the player nicknamed 'El Nino'.

But a realistic Garcia added: "That's something very difficult. I will probably play nine events before the Ryder Cup, while the other guys have been playing for almost a year.

"I'll have to do some very good things to get in but I will do my best. Do I think I'm good enough? That's a question to ask Mark James. He's the only one who knows."

Another player with ambitions to make the European side to defend the Ryder Cup in Boston in September is Jesper Parnevik, who this week is celebrating the birth of his third daughter.

The bizarrely named Pebble Peach Philippa Parnevik keeps up the Swedish tradition of family members all having names with the same initial, his other children are called Peg and Penny and he himself has three sisters whose names all begin with the letter J.

"It was quite hard to leave, but I really wanted to play here this week," said Parnevik, who won the Greater Greensboro Classic in North Carolina last month. "I'm only playing a few events in Europe, but it all depends how the Ryder Cup looks.

"I definitely want to make the team on my own this year because I didn't last year. It would make life a lot easier for everyone if I made it because we still only have two picks, and the way it is right now, a lot of the players who really need to be on the team aren't.

"I haven't spoken to Mark James yet about my situation but I will see him this week. I'll have to play very well while I'm in Europe.

"No-one is assured of a place. Nick Faldo is starting to play well, Sergio Garcia finished third last week, and I feel you really want young players on the team.

"Sergio is the guy supposed to take over the crown in Europe and the sooner he gets Ryder Cup experience the better. He's going to have a lot more top finishes, he definitely has the fire and spirit."

Parnevik, currently ranked number 17 in the world, will need some excellent finishes in his European events - the Open, the Scandinavian Masters and at Loch Lomond - as he has spent the last five years on the US Tour.

"In 1993, even though I won the Scottish Open, I felt that to go to the next level I had to do something different," he explained.

"On the European Tour, you have a lot of Swedes which sometimes makes you too comfortable. It doesn't matter how you play, you're always going to have players around you to pat you on the back.

"I just felt I might get comfortable being a top 30 player and to break through, I had to do something completely different and go to the States and start all over again.

"It was a very good experience to start as a rookie again. Nobody knew who I was. I had to start from scratch and if I had a bad week, nobody really cared. It was very good for maturing mentally and for my game."

Parnevik and Garcia are among the favourites for the first prize of £120,000 this week in the highest quality field assembled in Europe outside the Open championship.

Former world number one Tiger Woods, Open champion Mark O'Meara, double US Open winner Ernie Els and 1994 Open champion Nick Price provide a strong cosmopolitan challenge, while last week's winner Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood head the British hopes.

Westwood will play after missing the last two events due to pains in his arms and shoulders that have subsided enough for him to defend his title.