Parnevik: Let me play with Sergio again

Sergio Garcia will seek to endorse his claim to a Ryder Cup call-up in the BMW International here tomorrow boosted by a vote of confidence from playing partner Jesper Parnevik.

The partnership between the Spaniard and the Swede was one of the great success stories of the European challenge at Brookline two years ago as they won three and halved one of their four matches against the victorious United States.

Now Parnevik wants the two men to re-establish that partnership at The Belfry next month.

Although commitments to the US PGA Tour means he will finish outside the top ten in the European Ryder Cup points list, and therefore not win automatic selection to Sam Torrance's side on Sunday evening, Parnevik is assured of one of the captain's two wild card picks.

Garcia has gamely gone for glory by entering this week's tournament at the North Munich Golf Club but the 21-year-old knows he will receive the second wild card if a top ten place eludes him over the next four days.

Parnevik and Garcia have proved their form by winning in the United States this summer and 36-year-old Parnevik said: "I sense a new maturity about Sergio.

"Not only that, his game has moved to a new level.

"Around the time we played together in the last Ryder Cup at Brookline he was capable of pulling off some great shots but there was still a massive gap between him and Tiger Woods.

"There was no way he could compete with Tiger every week.

"Recently, though, he's been playing as well as I've ever seen him play.

"At one point he was No 1 in the driving statistics. He's long and straight and that's a huge advantage.

"We've played a lot of practice rounds and big money games together and we've been a pretty successful pairing. I'm just hoping that Sam will pair us up at The Belfry."