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GREENSBORO — All week, a sullen and stone-faced Sergio Garcia kept telling anyone who would listen that he wasn't happy with his game.

Few believed the player ranked No. 7 in the world when he went out and shot 15-under in the first three rounds to share the 54-hole lead at the Wyndham Championship.

No one believed him when he made three straight birdies to get to 18-under and a three-shot lead with 11 holes left to play Sunday at Sedgefield Country Club.

So he proved it.

Bogey at No. 8. Bogey at No. 11. Bogey at No. 12. A miserable par that felt like a bogey — and included a carom shot off the grandstand wall — at the par-5 15th. A scramble for par at No. 16.

"I just didn't feel it all day today," Garcia said. "When I was 3-under for the day, I still wasn't comfortable. You know, I felt like I was fighting. I felt like I was fighting myself, and, unfortunately, I wasn't good enough today. That's the way it is."

Garcia had one last chance to get into the playoff with Ryan Moore, Kevin Stadler and Jason Bohn, but he needed to hole a bunker shot at No. 18. He missed by an inch, then putted out with his wedge to finish one shot off the lead.

"I wish I could blame it on that, but, unfortunately it happened before that," Garcia said. "I gave it a good chance on 18. Unfortunately, it didn't go in. But I should have been in a different position."

If nothing else, the fourth-place finish at the Wyndham improved Garcia's standing for the FedEx Cup playoffs that begin next week at The Barclays.

"I've still got to get better," he said. "Definitely there's room for improvement. I still have to keep working on things and try to make sure (I) keep heading in the right direction."

UNDER THE WEATHER: At least two players high on the leaderboard to start the final round were fighting illness, as well as the golf course.

Steve Marino, the University of Virginia alum looking for his first PGA Tour title, caught a cold Friday night. He shot a third-round 63 despite chest congestion, a stuffy nose and fatigue.

A grinder playing his 24th event of the season, Marino started the final round at 12-under, but bogeyed the first hole. He finished the day with a 1-under 69 and tied for 10th place.

Brandt Snedeker, who won the 2007 Wyndham Championship on his way to a PGA Tour rookie-of-the-year season, finished his third round Sunday morning, shooting a 5-under 65 despite feeling terrible because of food poisoning.

"I feel OK right now," Snedeker said between rounds Sunday. "Good golf makes you feel better, so we'll get an IV in me and I'll see how it is this afternoon."

Snedeker closed with a 2-under 68 and tied for fifth place.

OH, BROTHER: Ryan Moore usually has his brother as his caddie, but Jason Moore is back in Tacoma, Wash., settling into a new house. So, Jason Moore's roommate, J.D. Rastovski, was on the bag for him.

"This has been a long time coming," Rastovski said. "He's been close before, so I thought this might be the time."

Rastovski has been Moore's caddie since The Transitions in Tampa, Fla., in the spring.

The caddie said he doesn't have to calm Moore during a round — even one as tight as Sunday's when, with three holes to play, Moore was tied with two golfers atop the leaderboard and five other golfers were no more than two shots back.

"He doesn't get excited about anything," Rastovski said. "I guarantee you he'll have no problem going to sleep tonight."

SHARING THE SPOTLIGHT: What does $5.1 million get you? For starters, a golf tournament in Greensboro, the Wyndham Championship.

But Wyndham Worldwide CEO Steve Holmes got a nice perk, too, when he and tournament chairman Bobby Long got to walk behind Ryan Moore, Kevin Stadler and Jason Bohn during their three-hole playoff Sunday.

FEELING IT: Brandt Snedeker has been playing so well of late that even a case of food poisoning couldn't dampen his enthusiasm.

"I can't way to get out there and get at it again," the 2007 Wyndham champ said, of The Barclays later this week. "I'm playing great, been playing great for six to eight weeks. I'm putting fantastic. I like my chances."

PERFECT PAIRING: The two teenagers walked alongside the second fairway hand in hand. He was wearing a Northern Guilford baseball cap. She was wearing a Page T-shirt.

Talk about the Wyndham Championship bringing people together.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com