Having gone into the final day of the Open six shots clear, it was assumed that Rory McIlroy would collect his first Claret Jug at a bit of a canter. However, the performance of Sergio Garcia made that far from certain. McIlroy had hovered around the 16 under mark for most of the day, and as much as we all wanted to see the Co.Down man run away with it, Garcia's rallying performance was compelling viewing.
First up, was some of the neediest 'golfer talking to a ball' action you're ever likely to see/hear.
In between some very impressive shooting, Garcia also had quite a bit of luck on his side. At the 12th, the grandstand came into play with a very helpful ricochet.
Garcia reached 14 under, within two shots of McIlroy, but an errant tee shot at 15 saw him in the sand where he gave hope to all of us amateur hackers with some woeful bunker play. Garcia rallied well to get up and down for a bogey, but with McIlroy playing safe down the final stretch, that effectively ended Garcia's challenge.
