Now comes the difficult part for Garcia: Carrying it out again

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) a Sergio Garcia had a satisfying day on a program that's never been one of his true favorites. The pictures were correct. The club was continuous. The score was sufficient for the Masters cause. Now comes the hard part: holding it together for another three times. "We'll see what happens," Garcia said, sounding a little concerned. For the impetuous Spaniard, that's always been the dilemma. How can a golfer of such talent have gone this long without winning a significant title? Why does he maintain blowing it on golf's largest stages? Well, here he is again, revealing the very best position with Marc Leishman after having a 6-under 66 Thursday, removing up Augusta National with an efficiency that came with only one complaint: It could've been better still. That it simply happened in the Masters was much more remarkable, considering this is the one major where Garcia hasn't been much of an issue. "Obviously, it is not my most favorite place," he said. "We try to relish it around we can each time we come here. Sometimes it comes out a lot better than others, but today is was one of those days. You understand, let's enjoy it while it lasts." In recent years, Garcia appeared resigned to the perception the period had passed him with a ' even at the relatively young age of 33. Until Thursday, he had not brought in any round of a major because the British Open at Carnoustie in 2007, when he set the pace the very first three days but dropped a' obviously a to Padraig Harrington in a playoff. Which was the newest in some bitter disappointments, of close-but-no-cigar calls in every major tournament nevertheless the Masters, where he's only two top-10 finishes in his previous 14 shows. This past year, he shot himself out of competition during a disappointing third round and bluntly announced he just didn't have the overall game or personality to get a significant championship a surely not at Augusta. "Maybe used to do not say it the proper way because it was some of those irritating moments," he conceded. There was none of that frustration on the opening day with this Masters. The very first 10 holes might've been as effective as Garcia could play, a score he made search absolutely simple. "If I manage to produce a number of putts that type of kept across the lip, I has been possibly 7- or 8-under level through 10," Garcia said. "It was that good." We've observed this from him before, not on the entire four days of a major. Which is the big problem when he tops off Friday morning after heavy over night rains soaked the program, probably creating another day of low ratings. "Every time I tee it off, I make an effort to perform as well as I can, hope that my greatest that week is really, really good," he said. "My most readily useful was pretty good, and I am looking towards doing the same thing the next three days. It will be really nice." A lot of players took advantageous asset of the light conditions. Actually an eighth-grader. Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old from China and youngest to participate in a major in 148 years, enjoyed well beyond his age. He holed a putt from just off the 18th green for a respectable round of 73 and a reasonable possibility of making the cut. Tiger Woods wasn't remote as he began his search for a fifth green jacket. Wild in the beginning, including a shot that knocked a cup of beer out of a hand, Woods settled into a rhythm and opened with a 70 as his girlfriend, Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn, observed on a few pockets. In his four Masters victories, Woods has never opened with a score lower than 70. His key isn't to shoot himself from the event. "It is a good start," he said. "Some years, some guys shot 65 getting started here. But right now, I'm just four back and I'm right there." Garcia and Leishman had a lead over Dustin Johnson, who features a game that fits perfectly for Augusta and he finally brought it. Johnson hit a 9-iron for his second chance on the par-5 13th and made a eagle putt, and he smashed his drive on the par-5 15th and hit selling wedge just through the green for a straightforward birdie. Fred Couples, the 53-year-old wonder at his beloved main, built bogey on the 18th and nevertheless was in the large group at 68. There were several rounds in the 60s, and almost half the field picture par or better. Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson retrieved from a difficult begin by running off four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the trunk nine to save a, while Rory McIlroy had a 72. Woods said he fought with the slower speed of the greens, and therefore did defending success Bubba Watson, who opened with a 75. "They are smooth and they are slow, and consequently we've 45 people at par or better," Mickelson said. "But that means I have surely got to change my whole attitude and just get after these hooks, because the ball's not working enjoy it used to and I'm giving this program way too much value because of my past knowledge." It's perhaps not about respect for Garcia. Augusta National could be the ultimate love-hate partnership, and Thursday was a rarity. He liked it. Garcia started his round having an approach that danced by the pit and left him a tap-in birdie. He rolled in a birdie on the par-3 sixth, and then shot up the leaderboard with a couple of difficult, downhill putts from 8 feet on the ninth and 15 feet on the 10th. Can this function as the week he finally a' FINALLY! a' pauses through? Adam Scott, who's using Garcia the first two days, said it's never from the problem. Never mind that 0-for-57 mark in the majors. "He is got significantly more than possible to get any contest he represents in," Scott said. Garcia will acknowledge he sometimes lets his feelings get the best of him, that is not quite the solution to cope with wanting to keep your self together over four of the sport's most stressful days. But Scott does not think for one minute that Garcia has abadndoned the thought of winning an important name. "He wears his heart on his sleeve and I am sure is how he thought at the time he said it," the Aussie said. "So I think it is a bit of a throwaway line. I do not think he's living by that at all." Garcia fought off the tee on the back nine, and he three-putted for par at the 13th. He also made hard par preserves on the 11th and 17th for his first bogey-free round at the Masters since 2002. "The last ten pockets mean a lot that I held my composure, although I did not strike it as well as I did the initial 10 holes," he said. Composure is everything to Garcia, who still works like a child. Just three months ago, he hit a tee shot from Increasing Hill that settled on a large department in a tree. Garcia climbed the tree, played a remarkable backhanded chance to the fairway and then jumped some 10 feet to the bottom. He needed no such destinations on Day 1 at Augusta. Now, if he can just keep it together for three more times. Etc Follow Paul Newberry at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

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