Garcia shares lead at The Barclays
Sergio Garcia has surged into a share of the lead with Paul Goydos and Steve Marino in the first round of The Barclays.
Late starter Sergio Garcia reeled in early front-runners Paul Goydos and Steve Marino to take a share of the lead after the first round of The Barclays at Liberty National.
The Spaniard secured his place in the 120-man field with a fourth-place finish at last week’s Wyndham Championship – and he carried that form into Thursday’s round, shooting seven birdies and an unfortunate bogey on the tough final hole as he settled for a six-under round of 65.
Earlier that same score had been set as the day’s target by the American duo of Paul Goydos and Steve Marino, with four players one shot back on five under.
“Overall, it was a good, solid day,” said Garcia.
“It’s the kind of course that, if you play well, you can shoot a score – with the greens being a little soft like they are.
“But at the same time, if you’re a little bit off, you can struggle. I managed to hit the ball well today, drove the ball nicely, hit a lot of good iron shots and made a couple of birdies here and there.”
Webb Simpson, Frederik Jacobson, Heath Slocum and Charley Hoffman all recorded 66s – while Padraig Harrington continued his good run of form with a four-under, bogey-free 67.
England’s Ian Poulter also had to settle for a 67 after bogeying the 18th, with David Toms on the same mark.
Harrington said: “I’m thrilled with it. I know that it’s not leading the tournament or whatever – but before you head out on this golf course, you don’t know what you’re going to shoot.
“It really is a testing, intimidating golf course – and to break 70… if I can continue that this week, I’ll be a very happy man.”
Tiger Woods struggled off the tee and was left frustrated after shooting only a one-under 70.
The world number one managed only two birdies but believes he is still well in contention.
“As of right now, only six under is leading – so I’m sure it will be a little bit tougher, with the wind and the weather coming in. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
Phil Mickelson also shot a 70 – while the English trio of Brian Davis, Luke Donald and Justin Rose are tied for 73rd after two-over rounds of 73.
ALL THE FIRST ROUND SCORES
(USA unless stated, par 71):
65 Steve Marino, Paul Goydos, Sergio Garcia (Spa)
66 Charley Hoffman, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Heath Slocum, Webb Simpson
67 Ian Poulter (Eng), David Toms, Padraig Harrington (Irl)
68 Nick Watney, Rodney Pampling (Aus), John Merrick, Lee Janzen, Matt Kuchar, Kevin Streelman, Justin Leonard, Richard S Johnson (Swe), Robert Allenby (Aus), Ryan Moore
69 Michael Letzig, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Mark Calcavecchia, Tim Petrovic, Kevin Sutherland
70 Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen (Rsa), Zach Johnson, Bill Lunde, Brian Gay, Davis Love III, Stewart Cink, Jason Day (Aus), Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, D.A. Points, Brett Quigley, Cameron Beckman, Bo Van Pelt, Stephen Ames (Can)
71 Pat Perez, Vaughn Taylor, Todd Hamilton, Greg Owen (Eng), James Nitties (Aus), Fred Couples, Alex Cejka (Ger), Kenny Perry, John Rollins, Nathan Green (Aus), Jeff Maggert, Mike Weir (Can), Tim Clark (Rsa), Troy Matteson, Y.E. Yang (Kor)
72 Jerry Kelly, Chris Riley, Jeff Overton, Steve Flesch, John Senden (Aus), Angel Cabrera (Arg), Mark Wilson, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Hunter Mahan, J J Henry, George McNeill, Chad Campbell, Bill Haas, Ernie Els (Rsa), Brandt Snedeker, Jonathan Byrd
73 Brian Davis (Eng), Jason Dufner, Joe Ogilvie, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Harrison Frazar, Charlie Wi (Kor), Kevin Na, Bob Estes, J.B. Holmes, Justin Rose (Eng), K J Choi (Kor), Luke Donald (Eng), Scott Verplank
74 Greg Chalmers (Aus), Bubba Watson, James Driscoll, John Mallinger, Jeff Klauk, Ben Crane, Marc Leishman (Aus), Jason Bohn
75 Robert Garrigus, Adam Scott (Aus), Lucas Glover, Ted Purdy, Ben Curtis, Michael Allen, Anthony Kim, Vijay Singh (Fij), Boo Weekley, Bryce Molder, Camilo Villegas (Col), Briny Baird
76 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Scott McCarron, Tim Herron, Woody Austin, Scott Piercy, Nick O’Hern (Aus), Charles Howell III, Kevin Stadler, D.J. Trahan
77 Chris Stroud, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Sean O’Hair, Chris DiMarco, Matt Bettencourt
78 Mathew Goggin (Aus), Jeff Quinney, Ryuji Imada (Jpn)
79 Roland Thatcher, David Mathis
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