Garcia hoping off-course activities can power him to Major success

Published:

Sergio Garcia believes his participation in both football and tennis is having a positive effect on his golf ahead of this year’s Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

Speaking at the premiere of Outside the Ropes – a documentary highlighting the dedication of five of the world’s best players – Garcia told TG that although he was very much a frequent visitor to the gym, playing other sports helped him to gain focus when it came to getting the day job done.

“When I have the chance of playing tennis and football, I do. It’s a great workout, but it also keeps my head off golf. I love both, and it helps me get back to the golf course with more anger and more will. It makes me happy.”

The 32-year-old TaylorMade-adidas staffer, who finished 2011 with two end-of-season victories, told us he was looking forward to the challenges this week’s tournament was going to throw up.

“The course has had a lot of rain, and the rough is very thick. It all depends on the weather – if it gets windy, it’s going to get tough, tough to hold fairways. At Major championships, being accurate is important.

“The good thing about this course is it’s not the longest Open Championship venue we have, so you can hit some irons, and three and five-woods off the tee to try and put the ball in play, but at the end of the day it depends on the weather. If it gets windy, you may have to be a little more conservative, knowing that making pars is good – if it’s calm, you might be able to attack some holes and take advantage,” he added.

Garcia has come close to winning the Claret Jug several times, perhaps most notably in 2007 at Carnoustie where he was eventually edged out by Padraig Harrington, but the Spaniard was keen to point out that he still has the belief to win on the biggest stage.

“The last four or five days have felt pretty good, but we all know it’s about what you do out on the course. Hopefully I’ll feel happy and comfortable and give myself the best chance I can going into the weekend.”

Garcia took time out to speak to TG after the screening of the behind-the-scenes show which also featured fellow TMaG staffers Camilo Villegas, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and defending Open Champion Darren Clarke.

The programme will air on Sky Sports 2 for the first time at 1830 on Tuesday evening.

- Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections - read why you should trust us.