Tulsa feels more like Thailand this week. Not even a Woods sighting can budge the fans who stake out spots under trees, and players are drenched in sweat.

Even Garcia, raised on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, was feeling the heat.

“It’s not as hot in Spain. Not as humid, either,” he said. “You’re constantly sweating, so you have to dry yourself, dry your arms, your hands, the grip, and 15 seconds later, you’re sweating again.

“So it’s not easy. It takes a lot of time to get ready.”

So much so that Garcia’s group was put on the clock when they made the turn.

Garcia, Geoff Ogilvy and Tom Lehman were warned on the 16th hole to pick it up. By the time they got to the No. 1 tee, the group ahead of them was out of sight.

“We tried, but at the same time, it’s not just that you have to dry yourself. It’s that there’s a lot of holes where two greens are close to each other, so you have to wait for the other guys,” Garcia said.

“The (birdie) putt I missed on 16, I probably missed it because I rushed it a little bit, tried to hit it before Hunter Mahan. He was on 13.”

Spacing was one of the things that raised Garcia’s ire at Carnoustie — he had an extended wait before his second shot on 18 in the final round — and the news Thursday that his group was on the clock prompted an animated discussion with a rules official as he walked down the No. 1 fairway.

After venting, though, he got right back on his game.

He ran into some trouble on No. 4. In the left rough off the tee, he flew the green with his second shot. He made a gorgeous chip that stopped 3 feet from the hole, but couldn’t get up-and-down when his par putt ricocheted off the back of the cup.

Bad break, but he got the stroke right back with a birdie on the par-5 No. 5.

“I recovered nicely throughout the back nine,” he said. “Then, unfortunately, I just didn’t have a great finish.”

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And he wasn’t blaming anybody but himself.

He said he misread putts on Nos. 8 and 9. On the ninth, he had less than 5 feet to the hole and thought the ball was going to go straight. It broke right instead, missing the cup by inches.

There was no time for sulking, though. He knows the only way he’ll ever win a major is if he keeps giving himself chances.

“Under the conditions, 2 under would have been great; 70 is not a bad round,” he said. “I just have to get out there (Friday), have another good round and get myself in good position.”

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