SERGIO GARCIA insists he is "still quite happy" with his performance in the Open at Hoylake despite again struggling on the final day.
Garcia went into the last round just one shot behind eventual winner Tiger Woods, and played alongside the world number one in the final group.
The 26-year-old Spaniard could only manage a closing 73 however, going to the turn in 39 shots - 10 more than in Saturday's 65 - to drop back into a share of fifth, seven shots behind Woods.
It was Garcia's 11th top 10 finish in a major championship but continued an unwelcome trend this season. In 11 final rounds, the Ryder Cup star has only broken 70 three times and has a scoring average of 72.63.
But ahead of this week's Deutsche Bank Players' Championship in Hamburg, Garcia stressed: "I felt very good last week, the best I've felt probably all year. So I'm very happy about that. I'm looking forward to keeping the run going.
"I felt like I played well all day, I felt like I was striking the ball the way I wanted. Unfortunately on the front nine nothing wanted to happen.
"It was a great experience, I really enjoyed it all week. I had a lot of fun. I'm still quite happy about it. A 73 was definitely the highest I could shoot. When everything goes wrong you make zero putts."
Garcia's chances had essentially disappeared after just five holes of the final round after he three-putted two of the first three holes and then could only par the par-five fifth while Woods made an eagle three.
But the 11-time major winner predicted it would not be long before Garcia broke his major championship duck, adding: "Sergio has not done it yet but I'm sure he'll do it soon."
