Garcia slumps to a record defeat in US

SERGIO Garcia joined a select list of only four golfers to go into the final round of a US PGA tournament with a six-stroke lead and fail to win in the Wachovia Championship last night.Garcia was matched at a low of 2-11 on Betfair but his odds-on backers must have sensed their fate as the Spaniard's seemingly unassailable lead was gone as soon as the halfway stage of the final round after he posted a double-bogey six on the ninth. Four birdies in a row from Vijay Singh saw the Fijian take a two-shot lead and trade at a low of 1-5 himself before a nervous finish from the leaders eventually saw a three-man play-off involving Garcia, Singh, and Jim Furyk, who birdied the 18th to throw his hat into the ring after drifting to a high of 49-1 on Betfair on the back nine.The betting going into the play off was 6-4 Singh, 7-4 Garcia and 3-1 Furyk, and that proved correct as Singh held his nerve to win on the fourth extra hole. However, not before Furyk had become the third golfer to trade at odds-on in the final round, being matched at 4-6 in the play-off.Singh was backed at a high of 17-1 to win the tournament on Betfair.