Sergio Garcia: I can't win major

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Sergio Garcia, once heralded as a rising star destined to win multiple major championships, said Saturday that he now doesn't think he has the game to win even one.

Garcia was in contention at the Masters on Saturday but shot 75. Although he joked around with fellow competitor Rory McIlroy -- who shot 77 -- and was generally fine with English-speaking media, the Spaniard told a different story to Spanish-speaking media.

“

In 13 years I've come to the conclusion that I need to play for second or third place.

” -- Sergio Garcia, on not being able to win a major

"I'm not good enough ... I don't have the thing I need to have," Garcia said in Spanish. His comments were translated for the Augusta Chronicle. "In 13 years I've come to the conclusion that I need to play for second or third place."

Garcia was asked if he meant in the Masters, and replied: "In any major."

After shooting 71 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 12th place, Garcia was asked about the Saturday comments.

"Do you think I lie when I talk?" he said.

A reporter asked if it was more emotion talking.

"Everything I say, I say it because I feel it," Garcia said. "If I didn't mean it, I couldn't stand here and lie like a lot of the guys. If I felt like I could win, I would do it. Unfortunately at the moment, unless I get really lucky in one of the weeks, I can't really play much better than I played this week and I'm going to finish 13th or 15th."

He was just 19 when he finished second to Tiger Woods at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah, where Garcia announced his presence to the world. He would go on to star on several European Ryder Cup teams.

After losing the 2007 British Open in a playoff to Padraig Harrington at Carnoustie, Garcia famously lamented that something beyond golf was in play.

"I'm playing against a lot of guys out there, more than the field," he said.

Garcia's 36-hole total here matched his best in 14 Masters appearances and it set up for an interesting day being paired with McIlroy. But Garcia bogeyed three of his first four holes and didn't make a birdie until the par-3 12th. That is where he mockingly hugged McIlroy, as he also made a birdie.

"I'm not good enough," he said. "I had my chances and opportunities and I wasted them. I have no more options. I wasted my options."

At one point, Garcia said to reporters: "Tell me something I can do?"

Garcia is just 32 and has 10 victories on the European Tour, including two late last year. The last of his seven PGA Tour victories came at the 2008 Players Championship. He is ranked 21st in the world.

When asked Sunday what he thought he was missing, he said: "Everything.''

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Bob Harig | email

Golf Writer, ESPN.com

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• Senior golf writer for ESPN.com
• Covered golf for more than 20 years
• Earned Evans Scholarship to attend Indiana University