GOLF: El Cortijo is as yet a club without a clubhouse and repeated power cuts added to an air of unreadiness as the Spanish Open got under way here yesterday.
But one thing in full working order was the game of Sergio Garcia. The only blemishes as he defied a buffeting breeze to compile a 67 were a couple of fluffed two-foot birdie putts.
"I enjoyed myself, played extremely well, hit a lot of great shots and felt very comfortable," said Garcia, who missed only one green in regulation.
"I'm a little disappointed to finish only five-under but I'm looking forward to the rest of the week." Denmark's Soren Hansen, who partnered Thomas Bjorn to joint-second place with America's Tiger Woods and David Duval behind South Africa's Retief Goosen and Ernie Els in last year's World Cup, set the pace with a 66 in the calm of the morning.
Former Ryder Cup man David Gilford, who lost out in a play-off to Sweden's Carl Pettersson in the weather-curtailed Portuguese Open three weeks ago, birdied two of the last three holes to match that score.
But there was no joy for Goosen. Two visits to the water and a string of missed putts saw the US Open champion finish on 73.
A blip on the official photocopier tellingly summed up tournament promoter and double Spanish Open winner Seve Ballesteros's day.
After signing for a 75 when he embarrassingly struck a submerged rock with his tee shot to bogey one short hole over a lake and then hooked out of bounds at the last to run up a seven, he apparently declared: "I keep crying as always and tomorrow I'll go out and cry hard again." He said "trying", of course, and that his day most certainly was. He now faces a fourth missed cut from five outings on this year's European tour.
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