Friday, April 7
By Bob Harig
Special to ESPN Golf Online
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- He turned professional on the heels of a stellar amateur career, then made an immediate impression with his style, substance and swagger. Before becoming old enough to legally drink alcohol, he was toasted as one of golf's great young players.
|  | | Sergio Garcia's wild round included seven birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. |
Tiger Woods?
The description fits, but it also applies to a player who is drawing favorable comparisons. Sergio Garcia just said goodbye to his teens and is saying hello to a world of fame and fortune.
He pumps his fists, excites the crowd, plays with youthful exuberance. He won a tournament in his sixth pro start, nearly beat Woods down the stretch at a major championship, and was a star on Europe's losing Ryder Cup team.
Not bad for a 20-year-old.
And yet, with all the attention comes great scrutiny. And the record does not shine so bright now that the first major championship is upon us.
Garcia entered The Masters answering all kinds of questions about his poor start to this season, the trials and tribulations with his caddies, and if he needs to make changes to his game.
Then he goes out Thursday and shoots 2-under 70 in the first round of The Masters. Go figure.
"I'm very happy with the way I played," said Garcia, who trails leader Dennis Paulson by two shots. "A 70 on this course with the wind we had is always a great round. I'm looking forward to playing well and hopefully be at the top on Sunday."
It's a far different tune than Garcia has been singing lately. After bursting onto the scene with so much fanfare a year ago -- when he was low amateur at The Masters, turned pro and shot 62 in his first round of his first PGA Tour event at the Byron Nelson Classic -- Garcia has struggled this year.
He missed the cut at the Phoenix Open and The Players Championship and has experienced difficulty in picking a caddie. He's on No. 4 now after recently firing Fanny Sunesson, the longtime caddie for Nick Faldo.
"Everything didn't work because my relationship with Fanny didn't work as good as we would have liked," said Garcia, who tied for 38th at last year's Masters. "She wasn't happy and I wasn't happy. If I'm not happy on the golf course, I usually don't play my game. ... I didn't want to lose six or seven months of my year because of waiting to get used to her and her to me."
So the new caddie is Glen Murray, who obviously pulled a few right clubs on Thursday.
Garcia started strong with birdies the first two holes, then immediately made two straight bogeys. He double-bogeyed the sixth, then rebounded with birdies at the eighth and ninth to shoot 36. After a bogey at No. 10, a stretch of three straight birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th holes made him one of just nine players to break par.
The round was up and down -- sort of like Garcia's year.
"You have to realize I'm still very young," Garcia said. "I'm still 20. There's still a lot of time."
Like Woods, Garcia began playing at a young age. His father, Victor, was the teaching professional at his home course, the Club de Golf del Maditerraneo in Spain. He started playing at age 3 and would putt against local club members for soft drinks and ice cream at home in Borriol, Spain. He was club champion at age 12, European amateur champion at 15. He won the British Amateur and the Spanish and French amateur titles.
His nickname, "El Nino," came about the time he made the cut in his first European Tour event, at 14. His handicap of +5.6 when he turned professional was the lowest in Europe. As an amateur, he played in 15 different countries, winning more than 70 tournaments.
There, of course, have been numerous comparisons to countrymen Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, both two-time Masters champions.
"I said when I turned pro that I wanted to be the No. 1 golfer in the world," Garcia said.
It's just taking a little time.
Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN Golf Online.
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