Jim McCabe

SOUTHPORT, England - He can still draw comfort from the fact he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder at a golfer who has always made him shake.

But Sergio Garcia has another problem entering the weekend of the 137th British Open: He has to look up at a leaderboard that has 21 players ahead of him, knowing full well that if the weather forecast plays through as predicted, he’ll shake not from the presence of Tiger Woods, but from ferocious wind and rain. (Click here for live leaderboard)

“It’s still a wide open tournament,” insists Garcia, who shot 73 on Friday for a 5-over 145 after two rounds, and every look at the leaderboard supports that assessment.

After all, with K.J. Choi’s 1-under 139 setting the pace, there are 20 players within five of the lead, and with a lot of gusto being predicted for the third round, there’s reason to think that some wild stuff might unfold. Refer back to just a year ago as the eventual winner, Padraig Harrington, was six behind through 36 holes. So if you use that as a barometer, who’s to say the winner right now isn’t sitting as far down as joint 27th?

Thus, why can’t Garcia be the one to come out of the pack?

No reason, and if you want to suggest that his ball-striking prowess in fierce winds served him well in winning The Players back in Florida in May, well, it would be hard to argue with you. Never very successful at hurdling a phenomenon named Woods, Garcia appeared loose and easy at TPC Sawgrass, and it was easy to suggest that the absence of the world's No. 1 player had a lot to do with that.

So, why hasn’t that carried over into this week? It’s hard to figure. Woods is still saddled with a full leg cast, presumably at his home, and we know he’s got no chance to win because even the wager-happy Brits haven’t put a pound on him. Yet Garcia has hardly seized the moment; instead, you’ve hardly noticed him in the glare of these revivals by Greg Norman, David Duval, and even Jean Van de Velde.

“I have to keep fighting hard,” said the 28-year-old Spaniard, who became the betting favorite when Woods announced just after winning the U.S. Open in June that he was out for the season. “There are still two days to go and they are going to be tough conditions.”

But therein lies the problem, because if you subscribe to that adage about how when the going gets tough ... well, let’s just say that Garcia has shown himself to be more marshmallow than rock. The failures in past majors have been well documented, but always the explanations were two-fold.

One, Woods. Garcia is allergic to him and breaks out in bogeys at the sight of him.

Two, a putting stroke that was shakier than your average 401-K plan.

On the first front, Woods took care of things himself, choosing to address a nagging knee problem.

On the second, a respected instructor, Stan Utley, reportedly took charge and gave Garcia a new stance, a new attitude, a new approach. The results won rave reviews at TPC Sawgrass, but let’s be honest here. You can’t pass judgment on one four-day tournament, so looking deeper into his efforts, one has to question how far he has come with the putting.

He’s had three forgettable PGA Tour tournaments since that win in Florida and was a distant second at the European Open. One could safely assume that the putting couldn’t have been that terrific in those tournaments, but the true test, it was felt, would be Royal Birkdale.

Halfway through, consider it a rough go. One has to merely look to bookend putts that summed up his second-round effort — par-saving attempts within 2 feet that he missed at the first and 18th. Bogeys, each time, and for a guy who was trying to start fast and finish strong, he sure found ways to put a damper on his chances.

Not that he saw it that way.

“I believe in myself,” said Garcia. “I enjoy playing in windy conditions. I believe in myself and my ability and it will definitely help me.”

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