A comforting arm went over the young man's shoulder, as father and son headed for a late lunch. With a dispiriting, second round of 72 for 142, Sergio Garcia was forced to reassess his tilt at history, here at Royal Lytham.

"In these conditions I would need to shoot a 64 or a 65 tomorrow to get back into it," he admitted. "I haven't played this bad in over a year, and it could have been worse. It's very disappointing."

The boyish innocence which had endeared him to American hearts on the final day of the 1999 USPGA Championship at Medinah, seemed to belong to a different time. Instead of an aspiring youngster, he had come here as a proven winner after victories in the Colonial Tournament and the Buick Classic. Expectations had changed.

Now, something rather special will be required if he is to surpass his illustrious countryman, Seve Ballesteros, by becoming the youngest British Open champion of the modern era. "Sure, I was conscious of history, of what Seve did in 1979 (when he was 22)," he said. "That is something I talked to Seve about. It was on my mind, but not during the round."

He wasn't born when Ballesteros captured this title for the first time, 22 years ago. And he was only eight, in a country where the British Open was not shown on television, when his hero won for a second time in 1988, also at Lytham. But they played together on Garcia's Open debut here in 1996.

Shunning a sports psychologist - "My parents know how to handle me" - the 21-year-old has had an unhappy week, starting with the broken ankle sustained by his assistant manager, Carlos Rodriguez on Wednesday. Very soon afterwards, he was fined by the European Tour for outspoken criticism of the greens during the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond last weekend.

"Maybe these things have affected my game a little bit, but I don't want to use them as an excuse," he said. But he did have complaints about media suggestions that he had shown an interest in some pictures on the walls of a Pizza Hut, of all places, during a supposed visit on Thursday night. "That is not true," he said, somewhat tetchily. "I was just having a quiet dinner with my family after I had visited Carlos in the hospital. You guys like to say things that are not right."

What part of his game was he unhappy about? "Everything," he replied with an embarrassed smile. "When I get to the range I must try to hit the ball better." He also suggested he would need to make adjustments to a swing which American observers have compared to a "buggy whip."

His father, Victor, remains his coach, a role which the player believes has been vindicated by his recent form in the US.

Garcia has committed himself to the US because he sees it as "the greatest tour in the world, for sure." He went on: "If you want to be a number one player in the world, or as close as you can get to it, you've got to play there."

The Americans have been happy to have him, since a burst of boyish enthusiasm saw him race up the 16th fairway at Medinah, in pursuit of a miracle, six-iron recovery almost two years ago. But for the moment, his focus is very much British; his guidance, Spanish; his prospects, uncertain.