García Gets the Early Jump at TPC

Better Short Game Helps Spaniard Take 2-Shot Lead

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., May 8 -- Sergio García hasn't won on the PGA Tour since the 2005 Booz Allen Classic at Congressional Country Club. García's putting woes got so frustrating earlier this season, he experimented with four grip styles, and he carried long and short putters in his bag in the opening round of the Match Play Championship in February.

That same week in Tucson, García began working with Stan Utley, a former journeyman PGA Tour player based in Scottsdale, Ariz., now considered one of the sport's best short-game teachers. García still hasn't had a top 10 finish this season on the U.S. tour, but the 28-year-old Spaniard said that with Utley's guidance, his chipping and putting continue to improve, giving him confidence to believe the longest drought of his career might be coming to an end.

Already one of the game's finest ball strikers, García took an encouraging first step on his path back to the winner's circle Thursday in the opening round of the Players Championship. On a warm, dead-calm morning at TPC Sawgrass, García birdied his final hole for a 6-under-par 66 and a two-shot lead at a venue he has played in 17 under over his past three rounds.

"I love this course; it's one of my favorites," said García, second here last year and attempting to become the first European winner since Scotland's Sandy Lyle in 1987. "I guess it just fits my eye. . . . I feel like I'm getting closer and closer. . . . More than anything, my short game, the most important thing is not that it looks good, but that it feels good. At the end of the day, that's what you need is to feel it, and I'm starting to feel it."

This $9.5 million event, already missing the star power of Tiger Woods, lost another big name Thursday morning when Masters champion Trevor Immelman withdrew because of illness. Woods is recovering from left knee surgery two days after finishing second at the Masters and is not expected back until the Memorial in three weeks. Immelman, according to a statement, withdrew "after waking up this morning suffering from an upset stomach and vomiting."

Plenty of players with multiple tour victories were prepared to contend this week, including defending champion Phil Mickelson. Trying to become the first back-to-back winner in the 35 years of this event, Mickelson opened with a 2-under 70 that he salvaged with a four-foot birdie putt on his final hole, the 583-yard No. 9.

"I'm pleased to get off to a good solid start," he said after a five-birdie, three-bogey round. "I feel as though I'm turning 66s into 70s, and I'm going to have to fix that this weekend. 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 today."

So would 1984 champion Fred Couples. Playing in his 25th Players, the 48-year-old also posted a 70 with a breathtaking par at the 462-yard 18th. After a three-putt bogey from 45 feet at the island green 137-yard 17th, Couples pushed his drive at 18 dead right, leaving several tall cypress trees blocking his path to the green. He aimed a 2-iron shot over the water down the left side and watched it slice back toward the putting surface. The ball kicked to the right into a collection area just below the green, and Couples putted from there, leaving a 35-footer two inches short for a tap-in par.

"I figured I could have sliced it," Couples said of his risky second-shot 2-iron. "If I was 7 over, I would have taken about one second to hit it. But being 2 under, I took a little time and tried to figure it out. . . . [The course] is going to firm up and play hard [the next few days]. There aren't even ball marks out there right now. You kind of bend over to make it look like you're doing something."

Several other players were doing decent work. By day's end, García had a two-shot lead on Kenny Perry and Paul Goydos, both at 68, and two-time champion Steve Elkington was among five players at 3-under 69. They all played in the morning, before the wind picked up and conditions became more taxing.

García found 10 fairways and 16 greens in regulation, with 29 putts and seven birdies, including a 50-footer at the 481-yard 14th on his front nine. Utley has worked with him to recapture the more natural stroke that made "El Niño" a sensation who nearly won the 1999 PGA Championship at age 19 in a memorable duel with Woods.

"From the beginning, my main idea was to get back to the way I used to putt, like 10, 12 years ago when I was a good putter," García said. "We got back into that kind of feeling, that kind of address and the way the stroke should be. It's kind of trying to hit little draws with the putt. . . . 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 thinking I should have been four or five shots better."

Said Utley: "It was an inch here, an inch there. The ball was too far forward and his hands were too far back. . . . The biggest thing we've done . . . happened in the first two hours we started working together."

A year ago, García had weekend rounds of 67 and 66 here, with birdies on four of his last five holes Sunday that left him two shots behind Mickelson's winning 11-under 277. Asked Thursday if his runner-up finish had been a motivating factor, García shook his head no.

"Being here motivates me," he said. "Being here and having a chance to win motivates me. Seeing results, it's always motivating. I'm finally starting to see that I can get better, which is nice."