Having played so little golf of late that he can't say how he will fare this week, Sergio Garcia is quick to admit he's more worried about his own game than anyone else's. Yet like all whose immediate focus is the Australian Masters, he knows the landscape at large has changed.''Maybe not as much,'' Garcia said yesterday, when asked if defending champion Tiger Woods was as fearsome a foe as he was a year ago, when No. 1 ranking and reputation were both intact.
Perhaps pointedly, Garcia dodged an invitation to anoint Woods as ''the man to beat'' this week, saying only ''he's one of them''.
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''I think you can never count out a guy like Tiger, one of the greatest players we've ever had in the game,'' Garcia said. ''He definitely will be a man to beat and to watch, and hopefully we'll be able to do it.
''Obviously he's gone through his fair share of problems. He's trying to get back into it. But at the moment I'm more worried about myself than I am about him.''
The Spaniard's first Australian visit in nine years comes on the back of a self-imposed break from the game, which was messing with his mind to such an extent that he imploded in a bunker during the US PGA Championships in August, hacking his club madly into the sand. Recalling the advice to stop digging when in a hole, he sought solace away from the fairways.
''It was something that I needed to do, mainly because I'd just been playing so much, not only as a professional but before as an amateur, too,'' the 30-year-old said. ''I just felt like I needed a little bit of recharging the batteries.''
He feels like the experience has been positive. ''I've definitely thought about a lot of things, learned a lot about myself,'' he said. ''I always enjoy life away from golf. I love life with golf, but I think one of the reasons why I love golf is because I have so many things going on in my life outside of golf, and those things help me get back to golf stronger. I feel fortunate in that way. I have really enjoyed those two months.''
The hiatus gave him a chance to concentrate on the fortunes of his Spanish third division soccer team Barriol, the club not just of the village where he lives, but of which he is chairman. A lifelong player and fan, Garcia was even able to slip himself into a playing role, coming on to a left wing as a late substitute in a couple of games.
He essayed his skills in a to-camera session with Archie Thompson on the MCG yesterday, leaving the Melbourne Victory striker so impressed that he wondered if Garcia might extend his stay and inject some life into the Victory's middling season.
''The tough years are always the ones you learn the most from, you take the positives out of them,'' Garcia said of frustrating days he hopes are behind him. ''I'm just looking forward to keep improving. I'm still young in golf age.''
Exactly what immediate benefit will be evident in his golf this week, Garcia was uncertain.
''But I did play very, very well in Valderrama [where he completed a top-10 finish nine days ago], I felt very comfortable with my game. I'm looking forward to keeping improving on that. As the week goes on we'll see how I feel. But I'm hoping and expecting to play nicely here.''
Can he ape Woods' 2009 effort and win the Masters? ''I'd say so, yes. If I play like I played [in Spain], why not? It's just a matter of getting everything together.
''That's the reason why I came here - I didn't come here to visit and go. My goal is to play well, to have a chance of winning. If I play up to my capabilities I know I can do it.''
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