eagle has sergio soaring

By Frank Malley, PA Chief Sports Writer

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Sergio Garcia's arms swept up into the sky in a great 'V' shape of celebration.

His nine-iron pitch had just skipped merrily into the hole on the 436-yard par-four second hole at Hoylake for an eagle two - and suddenly the charge was on at an intriguing Open championship.

'Vamos!' came a throaty cry from the gallery. Garcia looked around and smiled that toothpaste smile which brought back memories of Seve Ballesteros on the prowl back in his spectacular prime.

If Friday at the 135th Open had been the day of Tiger Woods and his 65, which also contained a brilliant eagle, then Saturday was the time of the swaggering Spaniard and a 65 of comparable magic.

A day for a first nine holes completed in just 29 shots, which was just one outside the major record of 28 set by Denis Durnian back at Royal Birkdale in 1983.

A day when he dropped not a single shot on his way to a three-round score of 12 under par for the championship.

A day, too, for swashbuckling action, in stark contrast to the controlled precision and cautious iron play of Woods.

Not for Garcia patient plotting and meticulous negotiation of Hoylake's bunkers.

Garcia rips the driver out of the bag like a matador reaching for his rapier.

Gone are the persistent waggles which blighted his career a couple of years backs when he could stand over his ball as frozen in time as Nelson at Trafalgar Square.

Garcia of the 2006 vintage is playing with freedom and aggression but accuracy, too, supported by the fact that he has hit more fairways than anyone so far this week.

Not surprisingly, he was exuberant.

"Twenty-nine in a major is something I had never done and didn't know if I could do. Holing out on two really got me going," he said.

"I had 167 yards to the hole with the wind just on the left and I just cut a nice solid nine iron.

"It looked really good and I was hoping for a kick-in birdie, but it's always nice to see it go in like that."

That eagle was followed by four more birdies at five, seven, eight and nine, a magical run which had his supporters swarming after him in their Liverpool number 10 shirts with Garcia on the back - that's Luis Garcia the footballer, of course, but they came in handy on the day nevertheless.

Golf needs the energy of Garcia. It needs the man who finished dead last after two awful rounds at Carnoustie in 1999 but who famously gambolled up the fairway a month later at the USPGA to finish a shot behind Woods.

Garcia has posted 10 top-10 finishes in majors since that horror at Carnoustie without ever suggesting he could sustain the rivalry we hoped for with Woods.

However, with playing partner Jim Furyk also posting his best Open round ever of 66 for an 11-under-par total, this was the time to hang on to the Tiger's tail.

And that's exactly what Garcia did on a homeward nine in which he made eight consecutive pars, driver frequently twirling in his hand, apple crunching between his teeth.

He should have made birdie at the 554-yard par-five 16 but saw his approach find the thick rough at the front of the green. He chipped out to four feet but then slid the putt by - and for the first time a frown replaced the smile.

Happily it returned with a birdie at the last which ensured his Saturday night dreams would be full of Old Claret Jugs. And so on to Sunday.

His strategy is commendable.

"I'll go out and enjoy it as much as possible whatever happens. I love being in this position and today was a thrill with all the cheers coming into the greens.

"I would love to have made a couple more putts but the greens are getting very brown and maybe I was a little bit tentative."

It did not look like it. Not with eagles and birdies fluttering all around and arms punching the air in celebration. For all the world it looked like the making of a champion.