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'Reborn' Garcia stronger for dark days

Sergio Garcia looks back to his best after some difficult years © Getty Images

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Sergio Garcia admits that he briefly considered retiring from golf, but now believes his struggles of the last two years have made him both stronger as a person and better as a player.

Garcia confirmed his return to the highest levels of the sport with his second victory in as many weeks at the Andalucia Masters on Sunday, a one-shot triumph that elevated him to 18th in the latest world golf rankings.

The 31-year-old was clearly overjoyed to claim victory at Valderrama, especially so soon after returning to the winner's circle for the first time in three years with an 11-shot triumph at the Castello Masters. Both victories signalled an end to some tough times for the Spaniard, who briefly reached No. 2 in the world in 2008 but fell like a stone after he experienced difficulties in his personal life and subsequently fell out of love with the game.

Garcia admits that he did consider retirement during his darkest days, but ultimately realised he still had things he wanted to achieve in the game.

"For a while, yes - I thought I'd take a long break, six months or a year, but there were still a few things I wanted to do and I couldn't just leave it just like that," Garcia told Spanish newspaper El Pais. "I've always been competitive, even when my head wasn't in a great place. I went out to give it 100 per cent but I couldn't keep it going. When things started to go a bit wrong, I collapsed and I lost the will to fight.

"[Now] I'm enthusiastic again. I've regained the desire to play the game. I want to get back where I believe I belong. It's a little like, not being reborn, but coming back to life. I've been through two complicated years on and off the course. They've been tough but good years at the same time. They've helped me to learn a lot about myself, not just in golf, but on a personal level."

Garcia continues to deal with questions about his lack of a major victory, having come close at the Open Championship in 2007 and US PGA Championship in 2008 but falling short on both occasions to Padraig Harrington.

He has yet to deliver on the promise he showed in pushing Tiger Woods all the way at the 1999 US PGA, but insists he isn't weighed down by that perceived failure.

"That doesn't affect me in the slightest," he said. "I've come close to winning three. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be for whatever reason. That's life. There are people who get a chance, everything works out for them and they win.

"Then there are people who have six or seven chances, like me, but unfortunately you come across a Tiger or a Harrington, or someone does some special that leaves you in second place or just on the verge.

"At the PGA [in 2008] I hit a great shot on the the 15th that hits the flag, goes in and out of the hole and finishes two or three metres away and I miss the birdie putt. That could have changed everything. They're curiosities. I've always believe in destiny and that things happen for a reason."

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