Sergio Garcia shoots 66 at Hong Kong Open but is still not happy
The Masters champion says he is having problems with his putting and is unsure if he can challenge the leaders
Sergio Garcia is not easily satisfied. Even after his best round of the tournament, a four-under-par 66 on Saturday, the Masters champion was unhappy with his play.
Going into the third round, the Spaniard was even par for the tournament but now finds himself at four under, six strokes behind the leader, India’s SSP Chawrasia.
Still. Garcia says he is not playing well enough to challenge the leading pack on Sunday.
“I don’t know, the way I’m feeling at the moment, probably not,” said Garcia when asked if he had a chance in the final round.
“But if I can figure something out, it would have been nice to at least shoot six or seven under today, which I could have done, and then I wouldn’t be so far away from the lead.
“But we’ll see what the people finish at. I’m expecting at least two or three guys to be somewhere around 10 under par, so it’s going to be very, very tricky.”
As it turned out, only Chawrasia was at 10 under with Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello and Australian Wade Ormsby one shot behind in a tie for second.
Garcia agreed his round was better than the opening two days but he is expecting much more from himself.
“It should have been probably an easy 63,” said Garcia. “But you know, it’s what it is. I just haven’t felt comfortable all week for some reason, and still kind of dragging a little bit. But you know, we’re trying, I guess.
“I made some nice putts. Unfortunately I just missed a whole bunch coming in, good birdie opportunities.
“Hopefully I can do a little bit more of that tomorrow, play, hit some good shots and hopefully feel a little better with the putter and see if we can post a really good round.”
Overall, players were scoring better on Saturday than the first two rounds as the windy conditions eased, which helped Garcia in his round of five birdies and one bogey.
“There was a little bit less wind. The wind got up a little bit in the middle of the round but it was definitely a lot calmer, which makes the course a little bit easier to handle,” said Garcia.
“I also hit the ball a little bit better than I’ve been hitting it, so that also helps.”
