Sergio Garcia hopes to be ‘one of the guys to beat’ at Spanish Open

Sergio Garcia is taking nothing for granted despite being hot favourite to win the Spanish Open following his near-miss in the Players Championship on Sunday.

Garcia held a two-shot lead on the back nine in the final round at Sawgrass only to be overtaken by Rickie Fowler who played his last six holes in six under par.

Birdies at the 16th and 17th took Garcia into a three-hole aggregate playoff with Fowler and Kevin Kisner, with Fowler eventually triumphing in sudden death by holing from four feet on the famous par-three 17th, the third time he had birdied the hole that day.

Garcia had snapped his putter in half in frustration after a second round of 72, but produced rounds of 67 and 68 at the weekend to come close to a second Players Championship title following his win in 2008.

Very positive

“It was a very solid week for me,” the 35-year-old told European Tour Radio. “I played a lot of good golf, didn’t putt particularly great until Sunday, but even like that I still had a great chance of winning which is very positive.

“I hope to improve a little bit on my putting and play as well as I did last week. If I can do that I should have a chance.

“Every week is different, we know how this game changes. Every course has something different. I hope I am one of the guys to beat if I am on my game but there are always a lot of great players.”

Garcia's only victory in the Spanish Open came in 2002 – he did not play the event from 2004-2012 – and the Ryder Cup star could only finish 38th last year as Miguel Angel Jimenez extended his record as the oldest winner in European Tour history.

“It’s been a while [since 2002]. It would be nice to get in the winner’s circle again. Miguel won last year which was great and it would be nice to get another Spanish winner and I will do my best to be the one.”

This year's event has moved from PGA Catalunya to El Prat in Barcelona, which should suit club member Pablo Larrazabal, who also owns a restaurant in the city.

“It feels great to be home,” said Larrazabal, who finished third the last time the tournament was held at El Prat in 2011. “The greens are certainly the toughest part of this golf course. They’re very tricky, which adds to the importance of putting your approaches on the right part of the greens.

“Tee to green it’s brilliant here, but getting your second shots into the green right this week will be a key factor in determining the winner.