Golfweek - Golf News Magazine

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• Slideshow: Scowling at the infamous 17th

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By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The flag was in a tempting location, back and left on the 13th green at the TPC Sawgrass with a pond running alongside the left side. Sergio Garcia took dead aim with a 7-iron and the ball never left its target.

This is nothing new with Garcia, who rarely struggles to make solid contact.

What pleased him was to see the 6-foot putt break sharply toward the water and drop into the center of the cup for one of seven birdies Thursday at The Players Championship, leading to a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead.

“I’m just looking forward to keep doing the same things — keep hitting the ball well, keep chipping well and keep putting well,” Garcia said. “And then hopefully, by the end of the week, we’ll be where we are supposed to be.”

That would be posing with a trophy, something Garcia has not done in nearly three years.

The 28-year-old Spaniard has strung together three impressive rounds on the frightening Stadium Course, even if his timing is a little off. The first two scores (67-66) came last year and enabled him to finish second. This one was merely a great start, but he’ll take it.

Garcia is mired in an 0-for-53 drought on the PGA Tour, the longest of his career, and while he is savvy enough to realize that leading after one round only amounts to a pat on the back, it was a small step in the right direction.

“At the end of the day, the only thing I can do is keep working on it, keep giving myself chances, and it’s going to happen,” Garcia said. “I feel like I’m getting closer and closer. At least now, I feel like I can do it, and it’s just a matter of being able to do it.”

Kenny Perry and Paul Goydos each had a 68 in the mild, morning breeze on a perfectly conditioned golf course. Sawgrass turned tricky, if not downright difficult, in the afternoon, and Ernie Els was among those who paid dearly.

Els was at 2 under until his wedge came up 20 feet short of the island green on the 17th, and he barely kept his third shot on land. He wound up with a triple bogey, and a 12-foot birdie on the final hole for a 72 didn’t improve his spirits much.

“I think they should blow it up,” Els said. “Everything you worked for in 4 1/2 hours, in one shot it’s all gone.”

Garcia might face a tougher task in the second round, for he also played in the morning. Only eight of the 34 rounds under par came in the afternoon with increasingly blustery conditions.

Todd Hamilton was the best among late starters with a 69, while Wachovia winner Anthony Kim rallied for a 70.

Goydos was among 19 players who contributed 20 balls into the pond that surrounds the island green, although he escaped with bogey that changed his fortunes. Goydos rode that save to three straight birdies on his back nine and a round in the 60s for the first time in his 10 trips to The Players Championship.

“Skipping 18 was a good idea, though,” Goydos said.

Phil Mickelson, trying to become the first player in the history of this tournament to successfully defend his title, was flirting with the leaders until a sloppy middle to his round put him at 70. Coming off consecutive birdies, including a wedge to 4 feet on the 17th, Mickelson failed to reach the 18th green from the right rough, then made bogey from 95 yards away in the middle of the fairway on No. 1.

“I feel as though I’m turning 66s into 70s, and I’m going to have to fix that this weekend,” he said. “I’m going to have to stop letting those shots slide in the middle of the round that are costing me in the end. But I would have taken anything under par starting the day.”

Mickelson won by two shots last year over Garcia, even though the Spaniard was never really in the mix. Garcia was the runner-up when Sean O’Hair put two in the water on the 17th to slide down the leaderboard.

In his 10th year as a pro, Garcia has been an enigma. No other player younger than Tiger Woods has contended so often in the majors and showed so much variety in his game.

“He’s like Tiger,” Goydos said. “His go-to shot is the shot that’s needed.”

But frustration has been setting in over three winless seasons, dating to the old Booz Allen Classic at Congressional, and Garcia recently turned to putting guru Stan Utley for help. This was a major move, for Garcia has relied almost exclusively on his father for help.

“My main idea was to get back to the way I used to putt, like 10 or 12 years ago, when I was a good putter,” Garcia said. “At least now I have some rounds where I come out and say I actually shot what I should have shot, and not come out and think, ‘I should have been four or five shots better’ ... which is always not very nice.”

He is tied with Adam Scott for most PGA Tour victories (six) by players under 30, although it was hard to fathom how he could go nearly three years without winning.

“It’s no secret to anybody that he’s been struggling with his putting for a little while, but as soon as he gets it right, we all know he’s going to be winning,” said Ian Poulter, among five players at 69. “I know he’s working hard, and I’m sure he’ll be in the winner’s circle as soon as he gets it right. It may be this week. If he’s putting well this week, then who knows? And watch out.”

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Scores with relation to par from the first round of The Players Championship, played May 8 at the par-72, 7,215-yard TPC Sawgrass (Stadium):

1. Sergio Garcia	66			-6
2. Kenny Perry	68			-4
2. Paul Goydos	68			-4
4. Heath Slocum	69			-3
4. Steve Elkington	69			-3
4. Ian Poulter	69			-3
4. Niclas Fasth	69			-3
4. Todd Hamilton	69			-3
9. John Merrick	70			-2
9. Nicholas Thompson	70			-2
9. Brett Quigley	70			-2
9. Fred Couples	70			-2
9. Troy Matteson	70			-2
9. Angel Cabrera	70			-2
9. Phil Mickelson	70			-2
9. Kevin Stadler	70			-2
9. Jose Maria Olazabal	70			-2
9. Ben Crane	70			-2
9. Miguel A. Jimenez	70			-2
9. Anthony Kim	70			-2
9. Boo Weekley	70			-2
9. D.J. Trahan	70			-2
23. Jeff Quinney	71			-1
23. Tommy Armour III	71			-1
23. Briny Baird	71			-1
23. Mike Weir	71			-1
23. Brett Wetterich	71			-1
23. Woody Austin	71			-1
23. Scott Verplank	71			-1
23. Aaron Baddeley	71			-1
23. Soren Hansen	71			-1
23. J.J. Henry	71			-1
23. Chris DiMarco	71			-1
23. Stewart Cink	71			-1
35. Rich Beem	72			E
35. Ken Duke	72			E
35. Bernhard Langer	72			E
35. Rod Pampling	72			E
35. Padraig Harrington	72			E
35. Daniel Chopra	72			E
35. Ryan Moore	72			E
35. Pat Perez	72			E
35. Jose Coceres	72			E
35. Alex Cejka	72			E
35. Kevin Na	72			E
35. Billy Mayfair	72			E
35. Jesper Parnevik	72			E
35. Jeff Maggert	72			E
35. Brian Gay	72			E
35. Ernie Els	72			E
35. Brandt Snedeker	72			E
35. Johnson Wagner	72			E
35. J.B. Holmes	72			E
35. Stuart Appleby	72			E
55. Tim Petrovic	73		+	1
55. Tom Lehman	73		+	1
55. Davis Love III	73		+	1
55. Bart Bryant	73		+	1
55. Dustin Johnson	73		+	1
55. Rory Sabbatini	73		+	1
55. Henrik Stenson	73		+	1
55. Kevin Sutherland	73		+	1
55. Ryuji Imada	73		+	1
55. Nick O'Hern	73		+	1
55. Michael Allen	73		+	1
55. Tim Herron	73		+	1
55. Chad Campbell	73		+	1
55. Retief Goosen	73		+	1
55. Lee Westwood	73		+	1
70. Jeff Overton	74		+	2
70. Steve Flesch	74		+	2
70. Joe Ogilvie	74		+	2
70. Brian Bateman	74		+	2
70. Fred Funk	74		+	2
70. Stephen Ames	74		+	2
70. Jerry Kelly	74		+	2
70. Jason Bohn	74		+	2
70. Bo Van Pelt	74		+	2
70. Mathias Gronberg	74		+	2
70. Mathew Goggin	74		+	2
70. Cliff Kresge	74		+	2
70. Dean Wilson	74		+	2
70. Michael Campbell	74		+	2
70. Carl Pettersson	74		+	2
70. Ben Curtis	74		+	2
70. Jim Furyk	74		+	2
70. Rocco Mediate	74		+	2
70. Robert Allenby	74		+	2
70. Camilo Villegas	74		+	2
70. Charlie Wi	74		+	2
91. Greg Kraft	75		+	3
91. Justin Leonard	75		+	3
91. Vijay Singh	75		+	3
91. John Mallinger	75		+	3
91. Tom Pernice, Jr.	75		+	3
91. Adam Scott	75		+	3
91. Sean O'Hair	75		+	3
91. Luke Donald	75		+	3
91. Dudley Hart	75		+	3
91. Matt Jones	75		+	3
101. Nick Watney	76		+	4
101. Charley Hoffman	76		+	4
101. Bubba Watson	76		+	4
101. Fredrik Jacobson	76		+	4
101. Mark Wilson	76		+	4
101. Mark Calcavecchia	76		+	4
101. Jonathan Byrd	76		+	4
101. John Senden	76		+	4
101. Zach Johnson	76		+	4
101. Bill Haas	76		+	4
111. Brian Davis	77		+	5
111. Bob Estes	77		+	5
111. George McNeill	77		+	5
111. Steve Stricker	77		+	5
111. Steve Lowery	77		+	5
111. Geoff Ogilvy	77		+	5
111. Stephen Leaney	77		+	5
111. Charles Warren	77		+	5
111. Tim Clark	77		+	5
111. Richard Sterne	77		+	5
111. Steve Marino	77		+	5
111. Shaun Micheel	77		+	5
111. David Toms	77		+	5
111. Andres Romero	77		+	5
111. Paul Casey	77		+	5
111. Tim Wilkinson	77		+	5
111. Peter Lonard	77		+	5
111. Richard Johnson	77		+	5
129. John Rollins	78		+	6
129. Nathan Green	78		+	6
129. Vaughn Taylor	78		+	6
129. Mark Hensby	78		+	6
129. Justin Rose	78		+	6
129. Matt Kuchar	78		+	6
135. Charles Howell III	79		+	7
135. K.J. Choi	79		+	7
135. Robert Garrigus	79		+	7
138. Lucas Glover	80		+	8
139. Shigeki Maruyama	81		+	9
140. J.P. Hayes	83		+	11
WD. Ryan Armour	WD
WD. Hunter Mahan	WD
WD. Jason Gore	WD
WD. Cameron Beckman	WD

Posted: 5/8/2008

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