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Garcia feeling at home in Crans-Montana
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Garcia feeling at home in Crans-Montana

Sergio Garcia will be hoping home comforts can inspire him to a second victory in the mountains when he tees it up at this week's Omega European Masters.

Sergio Garcia

The Spaniard lifted the trophy at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in 2005 and has never finished outside of the top 20 in five appearances in Crans-Montana.

Garcia is so taken with the stunning surroundings in Switzerland that he owns a house just 100 metres from the golf course and has been in the mountains for a week with wife Angela and daughter Azalea.

The 39-year-old has been helped in his preparations for this week by little Azalea, posting pictures of her with him on the range in the build up to the event.

And with his family around him and at a course he loves, the scene could be set for European Tour win number 16.

"It's always fun to play here in Crans," he said. "We live here some part of the year so it's nice to sleep in your own bed and be at home.

Sergio Garcia

"We're excited for it, of course it looks really nice and the views are always unbelievable.

"We've been here for just over the week so we've done a little bit of practice and it's nice to have Angela and Azalea with me. We've been going out for walks and stuff like that so it's been a fun week.

"I've always enjoyed these kind of golf courses: tight, not particularly long but you have to drive the ball well and you have to be accurate. That's usually the courses that I thrive on.

"Hopefully I can play well this week again and have a solid week."

The Omega European Masters has long had a Spanish connection, with Manuel Piñero, José María Olazábal and Miguel Ángel Jiménez having all won here but the course will be forever associated with the late Seve Ballesteros.

Sergio Garcia and Niall Horan

The great man won this event three times and then went on the redesign parts of the course, not to mention producing possibly the greatest escape in European Tour history to birdie the last in 1993.

"There's no doubt it is the Seve Ballesteros golf course so it's good to be here and we always remember him," said Garcia.

"It's a shame that he's not with us but it's nice to be playing here at his designed golf course and hopefully we'll make him proud."

There have rarely been bigger golfing stars than Seve but this week in Switzerland there have been stars of showbusiness up the mountain, with Garcia playing nine holes in the company of actor and musician Justin Timberlake and actor Dennis Quaid, before meeting musician Niall Horan at the Pro-Am.

"I've met him (Timberlake) before, he's a good player," said Garcia. "I'd never played with him but I knew that he liked his golf and we had a good time. We played nine holes yesterday with him and Dennis Quaid and it was a fun nine holes."

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