Garcia grabs share of halfway lead with Drysdale at Madrid Masters

MADRID, Spain (PA) -- On the day golf was voted back into the Olympics, Sergio Garcia says he wants to make it not simply to Rio de Janeiro in 2016, but to the two Games after that as well.

"If I stay in shape, I probably have three chances," the 29-year-old stated after taking a share of the halfway lead with Scot David Drysdale at the Madrid Masters. "I'm thrilled and excited about the possibility. There's still a long way to go, but I'm going to try to stay healthy.

"This is a very special day. We've been fighting for a year now to get it in and it feels good. It's going to be an amazing experience for all of us," he added. "I've always watched runners, high jumpers, long jumpers thinking it would be nice to have the chance and now we do.

"Until you are there and part of it you don't know what it feels like. It's like the Ryder Cup -- only once you play do you realize how big it is.

"We have the majors and the Ryder Cup, but winning an Olympic gold medal would be awesome -- and staying at the Olympic village would be a great experience."

Garcia, given the news during his second round at Centro Nacional, celebrated with a birdie on the same hole and went on to add a 67 to his opening 64.

His bid for a first victory of the year sees him 13 under par at halfway, with Drysdale alongside him following a 65.

The 34-year-old Drysdale made his 10th trip to European Tour qualifying school last November, but is 50th on this year's money list and will be playing for Scotland in the World Cup next month.

He finished his second round just as Garcia had done on the opening day -- with an eagle.

Only one behind are Ireland's Gary Murphy, Englishman Ross McGowan and Italian Emanuele Canonica -- and McGowan would have led but for four-putting the 16th for a double-bogey 6.

Former Tour winner Canonica is only 262nd on the "Race to Dubai" standings and no longer in the world's top 1,000, but he was at the Masters in April -- as caddie for Jose Maria Olazabal.

The Spanish ace also eagled the 18th to make the cut on the limit of 4 under, as did Luke Donald.

Olazabal's 65 was a 10-stroke improvement on the first round, but playing partner Darren Clarke went in the other direction. Five under and leading midway through his first round, Clarke crashed out on 1 over after a 76.

First-round leader Manuel Quiros not surprisingly found it hard to follow up his "unbelievable" opening 62. That had put him two in front of Garcia, but the world No. 1,076 dropped to 10th with a 73.

"The goal has been to give myself a few opportunities and see what happens," said Drysdale, who holed from 30 feet on the last. "The more experience you gain, the more relaxed you feel."

McGowan finished with a 10-footer for eagle and commented: "That's two of the best ball-striking days I've had. My game is as good as it's ever been and hopefully it will keep improving."

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