Garcia aims to rule Europe

Garcia: good year for Spain

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Sergio Garcia will tee it up in this week's European Open bidding to emulate his country's footballers.

Spain became champions of Europe earlier this week and the world number eight is intent on joining them as a European champion.

"It's been a good year for Spain in pretty much all sports so we are going to try to keep riding that wave," Garcia told Sky Sports News.

The event will be hosted by The London Club for the first time and the Players champion reckons the Jack Nicklaus-designed course will pose a real test

"If you hit it in the thick stuff you are going to be in trouble," he added. "I think it's a good way of setting the course up. It's kind of like the US Open - the further away from the fairways you hit it, the more you are going to struggle.

"It's a good, solid field and the course is in great shape. I played a little bit this morning. It is not a very long course but obviously it can be a little bit windy here, a little bit breezy and it looks nice."

Garcia will be playing on British soil alongside Padraig Harrington this week for the first time since the Open. The Irishman beat Garcia in a play-off to win the Claret Jug almost a year ago.

Colin Montgomerie is the defending champion - he won the event in Ireland last year - and after his second place at the French Open last week, the Scot is in confident mood.

"I played well in Munich two weeks ago and then last week was back to the way that I used to play and win tournaments - through lack of mistakes," Montgomerie told the European Tour's official website.

"It wasn't the amount of putts that I holed in the '90s, it was the amount of mistakes I didn't make. That's good, that's the way that I like to play golf.

"The swing feels good. I have a new set of irons which have really helped. They have the weights right for me and I feel the shafts are exactly the way that I want them. I feel that I can go for any pin."