Garcia turns heads on day of mixed fortunes for European union

The birdies arrived in numbers for Sergio Garcia here yesterday in his quest to end the 27-major drought among European players. And, to the delight of his Ryder Cup team-mate and playing partner, Paul Casey, who fared less well, so did the female admirers.

On a day of mixed fortunes for Europe's finest, and superb rounds by two of England's lesser lights, Greg Owen and Anthony Wall, to take them to within a shot of the lead, Garcia shot a four-under par 68 to lie two off the pace, and Casey hit a 72.

Owen and Wall both went round in 67, and are the most surprising pursuers in the group on five-under, the former because he has hardly played in the last few months, the latter because he has never dared rise to such giddy heights before.

Owen had by far the most to prove. Having been denied a berth at St Andrews last year after a qualification rumpus, his last taste of leading the Open was at Lytham five years ago, after 35 holes. Then he confessed to getting ahead of himself and thinking, "What if?" Now, after a move to the PGA Tour, he is a different player. "I've learnt to stay patient," said the 34-year-old from Mansfield.

Wall, 31, the son of a London cabbie, has had a consistently unremarkable career, although yesterday's trip into dreamland has been signposted. He has had two runner-up placings this year, a clutch of top 10s, and more than £500,000 in earnings. "Yeah, I'm an outsider with two kids who'll be changing nappies in an hour," he said. "But I'm not going to worry about where I am. Why should I?"

For each Continental up, there were several downs. Lee Westwood carded a 69 but Colin Montgomerie hit a 73, Luke Donald and David Howell both had to settle for two-over-par 74s, and Padraig Harrington carded a 75.

Garcia, whose tally was not lower because of some wayward putting on the back nine, attributed his good day partly to the rare luxury of home comforts. The Spaniard is sharing a house with his father and brother, Victor Snr and Jnr, his mother, Consuelo, and his sister, Mar.

"Unfortunately, in the last five or six years we haven't been able to get everybody together," he said. "We come back to my house, my mom cooks some beautiful dinners. We play cards and just enjoy the time with each other."

The 26-year-old world No 9, seeking a first major of his career in a largely poor season, collected three birdies on the way out and two on the way home at the expense of one bogey. "I'll take four-under-par in a major, every time," he said. "The rain has definitely softened up the course," he added, talking of the benefit of going out early (8am) before the sun started to dry things up again. "It made hitting the fairways a little bit easier and stopping on the greens was much easier than it has been. It made the course play a little bit longer but at least you had a bit more control."

Casey hit five birdies too, but spoilt them with a handful of bogeys. He was sanguine afterwards. "I'm as happy as I can be for level par," he said. "Still, I'm not out of it, that's fine."

He was happier with the galleries, which he described as "tremendous, the best I've ever seen" and he laughed as he added, "but then maybe that's because I was playing with Sergio and Freddie [Couples]. They always get a good-looking crowd."