Associated Press
Saturday, November 25

INDIO, Calif. -- Sergio Garcia, sinking a couple of timely putts for birdies, won four skins and $150,000 Saturday on the first day of the Skins Game.

The 20-year-old Spaniard rolled in an 8-footer for a birdie 3 worth $25,000 on the second hole, then birdied from 12 feet on the par-3 No. 8 to earn $125,000.

	Singh avoided a first-day shutout, ending his day with a $50,000 eagle on nine.

Fred Couples, who has won three times and finished second three others in his seven previous Skins Game appearances, won the first hole with a birdie 3. That $25,000 put him at the $2 million mark in Skins Game earnings, more than twice as much as any other player.

Colin Montgomerie of Scotland, making his Skins Game debut, won one hole worth $75,000. Masters champion Vijay Singh of Fiji, also a rookie in the event, missed several birdie putts early, but made a 12-footer for eagle 3 on the ninth and final hole of the day to win $50,000.

Garcia, who won two skins and $150,000 in his Skins Game debut a year ago, this time hit a 9-iron within 12 feet on the par-3, 148-yard eighth hole. Couples hit into a bunker, and Singh and Montgomerie both missed birdie tries from about 20 feet before Garcia made his 12-footer to win the richest hole of the day.

Montgomerie, who said he has never even played a skins format, picked up three skins and $75,000 with a par on the 249-yard, par-3 fifth hole.

He hit his 5-iron 15 feet from the pin, the only player to make it on the putting surface off the tee, then two-putted from there. Couples missed for par from 10 feet and Garcia from 8 feet before Singh's 4-footer did a 360-degree spin out of the cup to give Montgomerie the hole.

"Unbelievable," Montgomerie said, smiling and shaking his head after he won the hole with a routine par.

Singh crafted his eagle on No. 9 after hitting his drive into a bunker. He recovered by hitting his next shot 170 yards to within 12 feet of the pin on the par-5, 507-yard hole, then raised his hands high over his head and clapped after he made the putt.

Couples, in his eighth Skins Game appearance, needed only three shots to reach $2 million in career earnings in the annual two-day, 18-hole event.

He hit a perfect 3-wood off the tee on, the 405-yard, par-4 first hole, then nailed his pitching wedge within 4 feet of the pin. Garcia plopped his second shot into a bunker, but Singh was within 15 feet of the cup and Montgomerie slightly closer.

But Singh's putt tailed off before it reached the cup, and Montgomerie's slid just past the lip before Couples rolled his into the center of the cup.

Couples' Skins game total is more than double that of Mark O'Meara, who is second on the earnings ladder with $915,00 in his three appearances.

Garcia picked up a quick $25,000 at No. 2, a 483-yard par 4. His 6-iron landed some 40 feet from the hole, but the ball slowly rolled down the slope of the green before stopping 8 feet from the cup. Couples had the best birdie opportunity of the other three on the second hole, but his 20-footer just missed.

All four players parred the par-3 No. 3, and all but Singh, who hit into heavy brush adjacent to the left bunker by the green, also had pars on the par-5 fourth hole, setting the stage for Montgomerie's $75,000 putt.

Prize money is at stake on each hole in the Skins Game. A player wins the money if he wins the hole (the skin) outright. If two or more players tie a hole, all are considered tied and the money is carried over to the next hole, with the pot building until one player wins a hole.

The first six holes were worth $25,000 each, the next six worth $50,000 each, and Nos. 13-17 worth $70,000 each, leading to a $200,000 "super skin" at No. 18.