Garcia moves forward by standing still

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland, July 20 (Reuters) Sergio Garcia looked set to move forward by standing still in the British Open second round at windswept Carnoustie today.

A level par 71 kept him six under overall on 136 on a day when bogeys rather than birdies were the norm.

That target looked likely to be beyond the rest of the field in conditions warmer than the bone-numbing introduction to the tournament but considerably more breezy.

''I was hoping for a little better than I did but every time you can shoot even par on a tough day in an Open championship you know you're going to be very close,'' the Spaniard told a news conference.

''It was a bit more of a grinder's day and overall I am still pretty happy about it.'' By early afternoon only Swede Niclas Fasth (69 for 144) had broken 70 on the east Scotland coast and most had recorded scores considerably over it.

World number two Phil Mickelson, runner-up at last week's Scottish Open, looked likely to miss the cut at six over after an error-strewn 77 which included a double-bogey six at the last.

Briton Luke Donald, the world number nine, was two shots better but licking his wounds after a 76 which included two sixes and a triple-bogey eight on the sixth where he went out of bounds after a playing partner's dropped club upset him while swinging.

It threatened to be a long afternoon too for Garcia's most likely rival over the weekend, Tiger Woods.

The world number one, seeking to become only the second man in 125 years to win three Opens in succession, hit an ugly hook left at the first which sped into a burn.

Woods eventually took a double-bogey six which sent him tumbling back to level par.

JIMENEZ SHINES The nearest rival in the clubhouse for Garcia was compatriot Miguel Angel Jimenez, who was three under after a 70.

Jimenez was only denied a hole-in-one by a fraction at the 248-yard 16th where his tee shot rolled just short.

Irishman Paul McGinley, who carded a 67 yesterday, was among the late starters.

Garcia, like Woods, struggled on the 406-yard first but showed a magical touch worthy of another Spaniard, Seve Ballesteros, in a desperate position from thick rough just off the green.

With a bunker guarding the putting surface and precious little green to play with, the 27-year-old somehow contrived to float the ball up with his most lofted wedge and land it gently over the sand and it rolled to within a foot of the hole.

Garcia, who left the course in tears eight years ago after an opening 89, dropped his first shot at the fourth when he three-putted from the edge of the green but made amends with a birdie at the long sixth having reached in two.

He then negotiated the long and ultra-tough closing nine in par figures, with a birdie at the long 14th after reaching in two cancelling out a dropped shot at the 11th.

American Jim Furyk, the 2003 US Open champion, briefly joined McGinley at four under but lost ground at the 10th.

Furyk badly pushed his approach to the right and the ball would have landed in a burn had it not ricocheted off an iron bridge and bounced back into the rough.

However, he could not make the most of his good fortune and took three more for a bogey five.

A bogey five at the last further tarnished what had once looked to be a fine round but his 70 still left him well placed on two-under 140.

Ernie Els, the 2002 Open champion, shot a 70 for 142 while US Open holder Angel Cabrera (73) and Lee Westwood of Britain (70) came in at 141.

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