Garcia: Looking to land first major title
I know what I can do and what I can achieve and it's just a matter of being able to go out there and do it.
Sergio Garcia
Sergio Garcia left Carnoustie last year all bitter and twisted. It was not a pretty sight.
He could so easily have been Open champion, but he wasn't. And rather than just reflecting on how close he came and how sure he was that his time would come, he had things he wanted to get off his chest.
While others felt sympathy towards him, Garcia felt the world was against him.
"Having to wait 15 minutes in the fairway doesn't help when you're trying to win the British Open," he said, the hurt of defeat there for all to see.
"When you're one shot in front, hitting a three-iron into a green where there's danger everywhere it doesn't help at all. I wasn't very happy about that.
"And I should write a book on how to not miss a shot in the play-off and shoot one over. It's the way it is - I guess it's not news in my life.
"It's funny how some guys hit the pin and go to a foot. Mine hits the pin and goes 20 feet away.
"You know what's the saddest thing about it? It's not the first time. So I don't know, I'm playing against a lot of guys out there - more than the field."
Now Garcia, four clear of that field early on the final day and eventually beaten by a man (Ryder Cup team-mate Padraig Harrington, of course) who had been six back with 18 to play, will try again at Royal Birkdale.
Prestigious
The 28-year-old does, of course, have now two things in his favour which did not exist 12 months ago.
The first applies to everybody - there is no Tiger Woods. But the second applies only to him - in May he won the prestigious Players Championship in Florida.
It has long carried the label "unofficial fifth major", but Garcia would love nothing more than to discover the massive difference between the fifth and any of the first four.
Not that his Sawgrass success should be too lightly dismissed in terms of its significance for a player who has 13 top 10 finishes in majors, but not yet one win.
Garcia, such a force in the Ryder Cup ever since he became its youngest-ever participant aged 19 in 1999, had not won a tournament for three years and had had to answer question after question about his putting woes.
"Awesome," he said after beating American Paul Goydos in a play-off. "It was a very, very hard day - probably even harder than the last round at the British Open, but I guess the harder they get the sweeter they taste.
"I felt so good all week long with all parts of my game. Golf is not only about hitting the ball. You have to have every single part of your game in shape.
"The only thing this tells me is to keep working hard and to believe in myself. When I do I think there's not a lot of guys out there that can beat me.
"It's been a lot of work, but like everything when you work hard at it and you work on the right things they end up paying off. I want to have a good year and keep giving myself chances of winning more events - and having a major if I can.
Improvement
"My putting is definitely getting there, but there's still room for improvement, which is good.
"I know what I can do and what I can achieve and it's just a matter of being able to go out there and do it.
"When I play like a kid I usually do well. I definitely don't consider myself a kid any more - I feel like an old man, an old 28-year-old - but when you play like that you don't worry so much about the outcome.
"Sometimes you get a little bit too frustrated with this game. It's a beautiful game, but it's a really hard one."
Time then to try to make it look as easy as he can. He did a good job of that for three days in Scotland a year ago and was, remember, just an inch or so away from making Harrington pay for his closing double-bogey six.
Majors are often decided by such small margins, though. It does not stop those who win being lauded and those who lose being gutted.
Until he makes the leap from Players champion to major champion Garcia knows there is still something to prove.
