The Open 2013: Sergio Garcia finds forgiveness at Muirfield after Tiger Woods comment Although García has been a Ryder Cup stalwart for over a decade, his abundant natural talent has never transferred itself onto the major stage, while he remains a prickly, petulant character both on and off the course, far from the most popular player in the locker room. The crowds at the Open, it seems, are more forgiving. They gave him a rousing reception at almost every hole on Saturday and after a third-round 68 in breezy conditions, which left the Spaniard three over par for the tournament and within sight of the leaders once again, the smile was back on García's face. Harrington spent a lot of time in the rough during his six-over-par 77, which left him 12 over in total. García, though, declined, to criticise him, saying he empathised with his plight. Our relationship is good. Normal," he said of Harrington. It's never nice [being on the clock]. But it is difficult when you are playing with someone who is struggling. I felt like I was rushing quite a lot. I even played out of turn a couple of times to try to catch up. But it's difficult when it's this breezy and you are not hitting the ball that well. Even if ultimately he is too far off the lead to challenge for the Claret Jug on Sunday, García said he was just thankful to be back playing well and back enjoying the support of the crowd. At Merion last month he had to contend with fans heckling him and shouting out the KFC catchphrase in the wake his comments regarding Woods. ""It kind of takes a lot of energy [to deal with],"" he admitted this week. ""There's a group - I don't know what you'd call them - that's always going to be there. But over here, people have moved on. Every time I come to the UK, even though I'm not British, the crowds treat me extra special. "I've always said it," he added. As an individual tournament this is definitely my favourite.