Garcia cocky despite ups and downs

GOLF/US Masters: All around the course, the giant white leaderboards are dotted in the most strategic locations. The are hard to miss, and ever time that Sergio Garcia looked at one to assess the progress of the championship, and who was making a move, something puzzled him. Where were the Americans?

"I was expecting to see more of them, but I guess it only shows how good everybody is playing and it doesn't matter where they come from. There so many strong international players right now, and that is being shown here," said Garcia, who got into a good position to make a weekend move by shooting a second round 71 for five-under-par 139, four shots behind leader Vijay Singh.

Garcia's presence on the heels of the leader actually came as a mild surprise. "I struggled," he confessed. However, the Spaniard's uncharacteristic self-criticism didn't last too long. "I am now where I want to be going into the weekend. I want his badly. If you can get some momentum where you make a couple of bridies and you are able to hit the ball the way you want to, and keep yourself out of trouble, then that is what is needed."

While the absence of any American challengers in the top-five at the midway stage caused Garcia to raise an eyebrow, an indication of high he has set his own sights is that he aims to win both US and European Tour moneylists this season.

"If I win one of them, I'll be happy. But two is the goal . . . and if I win here, then I will be topping both moneylists," he said.

Garcia struggled for much of the round, but finished strongly. Having turned in one-under 35, he dropped a shot on the 11th; where his approach finished in the hazard, but not in the water, and he failed to get up and down; and then suffered another bogey on the 13th, where his drive finished in Rae's Creek. However, he picked up birdies on the 14th and 15th, before dropping another shot on the 16th, and capping off a typically eventful round by rolling in a 16-footer for birdie on the last.