“I feel as though I’m turning 66s into 70s, and I’m going to have to fix that this weekend,” he said. “I’m going to have to stop letting those shots slide in the middle of the round that are costing me in the end. But I would have taken anything under par starting the day.”

Mickelson won by two shots last year over Garcia, even though the Spaniard was never really in the mix. Garcia was the runner-up when Sean O’Hair put two in the water on the 17th to slide down the leaderboard.

In his 10th year as a pro, Garcia has been an enigma. No other player younger than Tiger Woods has contended so often in the majors and showed so much variety in his game.

“He’s like Tiger,” Goydos said. “His go-to shot is the shot that’s needed.”

But frustration has been setting in over three winless seasons, dating to the old Booz Allen Classic at Congressional, and Garcia recently turned to putting guru Stan Utley for help. This was a major move, for Garcia has relied almost exclusively on his father for help.

“My main idea was to get back to the way I used to putt, like 10 or 12 years ago, when I was a good putter,” Garcia said. “At least now I have some rounds where I come out and say I actually shot what I should have shot, and not come out and think, ’I should have been four or five shots better’ ... which is always not very nice.”

He is tied with Adam Scott for most PGA Tour victories (six) by players under 30, although it was hard to fathom how he could go nearly three years without winning.

“It’s no secret to anybody that he’s been struggling with his putting for a little while, but as soon as he gets it right, we all know he’s going to be winning,” said Ian Poulter, among five players at 69. “I know he’s working hard, and I’m sure he’ll be in the winner’s circle as soon as he gets it right. It may be this week. If he’s putting well this week, then who knows? And watch out.”

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