Sports

Spaniard leaves waggling days behind

As Sergio Garcia was heading down the second fairway at Bethpage Black yesterday, he had to be feeling good about himself and his game. He was coming off a birdie on the opening hole of the third round of The Barclays, tying him for the lead with his playing partner, Nick Watney.

Less than a week removed from his victory at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., Garcia was atop the leaderboard in the FedEx Cup. But then someone tried to throw a rock at his good karma.

From the gallery, someone shouted, “You don’t need that waggle anymore, do you, Sergio?” Perhaps it was some sort of compliment. But any mention of the word “waggle” could have conjured bad memories of the 2002 U.S. Open here when Garcia was in the throes of a constant regripping and waggle routine that made him an easy target for the boisterous New York galleries.

Back then, Garcia let the fans know what he thought of their opinions by giving them the middle-finger salute. It was not his finest moment on the golf course.

Yesterday he ignored the loudmouth, if he even heard him at all. Today the Spaniard is in control of his game and his emotions, one reason he takes a two-stroke lead into today’s final round. A 2-under 69 yesterday put him 10-under for the tournament.

“I just want to go out there and try to play the way I’ve been playing, try to believe in what I’m doing as much as I’ve been doing and if I manage to win, the will be great,” Garcia said of today’s round. “If I don’t, it will still be great. I’ll be giving it my best effort.”

Garcia says this is his best stretch of golf in the U.S. since 2008 when he won the Players. He won back-to-back tournaments last year in Europe, but his validation as one of the game’s top players is happening at Bethpage Black. While everyone was grumbling about the speed of the greens, Garcia three-putted the third hole, but didn’t have a three-putt the rest of the round.

“It’s a little bit of a guessing game when the greens get like this,” he said.

Garcia was The Barclays champion in 2001 and 2004 when it was the Buick Classic played at Westchester Country Club. It’s a totally different tournament now with the prestige of being the opening leg of the FedEx Cup. A win today takes him from being familiar to feared.

Regardless of what happens, Garcia plans to take next week off. He withdrew from the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, saying he needed a break before the finish of the FedEx Cup and the upcoming Ryder Cup. Never having won a major, the Ryder Cup has been Garcia’s career highlight much like it was for Colin Montgomerie. But Garcia, 32, still has plenty of time to win his major, especially if he continues to play the way he has these past two weeks.

After making birdie at the first hole, Garcia three-putt on No. 3 for bogey, but followed with a birdie at the par-5 fourth. He reached the par-5 seventh in two and made another birdie there to improve to 9-under. Another bogey at the 10th was erased with a birdie at the par-4 11th.

He added another birdie at the par-5 13th, reaching the green in three and draining a 16-foot putt to take the outright lead at 10-under after Watney had bogeyed the 11th and 12th.

“I just kept believing what I was doing, what I’ve been doing and just keep my patience,” Garcia said.

Much has been made of Garcia using non-professional caddies the past two weeks. Wayne Richardson, a CBS spotter and a friend, is on his bag this week. Garcia has tried to downplay the unusual choice. What he’s doing is playing with confidence and precision. There’s no waggle in his game.

george.willis@nypost.com