Sergio and his 'friend' Martina

Sergio Garcia is looking to win game, set and match on and off the golf course here.

As the highest ranked player left in the Accenture World Match Play Championship, Garcia is now favourite to lift the title and pocket a first prize of £740,000 on Sunday.

Should he succeed, the dashing young Spaniard will be able to celebrate in the company of Martina Hingis, the Swiss tennis star who has been serving up a smile every time she catches Garcia's eye on the fairways at the luxury La Costa Resort.

Garcia insists that he and Hingis are "just friends" but they are going to a lot of trouble, and doing a great deal of travelling, in order enjoy each other's company.

Last month, Garcia watched Hingis compete in the Australian Open in Melbourne, where she eventually lost in the final to Jennifer Capriati.

Then 21-year-old Hingis was spotted sitting next to 22-year-old Garcia in a blue Ferrari near the Spanish town of Borriol, where the golfer has a home.

Now they have popped up here on the sun-scorched west coast of the United States, Hingis wandering among the gallery in a black top and jeans with her mother Melanie.

Inevitably, there is speculation that the two will become the next sporting celebrity couple. Former Wimbledon champions Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have proved that it is possible to score a love match on the sports circuit, though a widely reported liaison between Tiger Woods and former volleyball player and pin-up Gabrielle Reece did not last long, if it ever existed at all.