Sergio Garcia was unable to provide a repeat of his scintillating final round performance in last week's PGA championships, when he handed in a one under par 71 in yesterday's first round of the PGA International tournament in Castle Rock, Colorado. It gave the Spaniard a total of five points under the modified Stableford scoring system utilised here.
Lee Westwood and Masters champion Jose-Maria Olazabal were one shot adrift of on four points, both complaining bitterly that they seemed to have lost their feel for the game.
"I just played badly really, I actually thought I did well to make four points" said Westwood. "I am just not hitting the ball very well and it's everything not just the tee shots."
Darren Clarke got off to a disastrous start with a double bogey at 10th, his first. He did manage a birdie at the par five 17th to be minus one at that stage.
The early clubhouse leader was 1997 PGA champion Davis Love, who accumulated 14 points to be just one clear of Australian Steve Elkington and Mark Wiebe.
Love, the champion here at Castle Pines in 1990, fired seven birdies, five of them in his first seven holes, each worth two points. He scored a seven-under-par 65 which gave him his 14 point total.
