PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Sergio Garcia has played TPC Sawgrass enough to know that trouble is lurking around every turn, and the opening round Thursday at The Players Championship provided another example. Just not for him.
A solid start turned into a brilliant one for Garcia, who finished birdie-birdie-eagle for a 7-under 65, staking the Spaniard to a two-shot lead among the players who finished their opening rounds (21 players will have to finish their first rounds on Friday morning after play was suspended because of darkness).
Garcia, who won the PGA Tour’s premier event in 2008, holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh, hit a 3-iron to 15 feet on the par-3 eighth, and closed it out with a 5-wood to 18 feet for eagle on his final hole.