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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) -Sergio Garcia put together his third straight impressive round at The Players Championship. The first two gave him a runner-up finish last year. The 6-under 66 on Thursday was only a great start.
With growing confidence in his balky putting stroke and superb ball-striking that has become his hallmark, Garcia birdied all the par 5s and picked up a bonus birdie with a 50-foot putt on the 14th hole to build a two-shot lead on the frightening Stadium Course.
It was a good step toward ending an 0-for-53 drought on the PGA Tour, the longest of his career.
"At the end of the day, the only thing I can do is keep working on it, keep giving myself chances, and it's going to happen," Garcia said. "I feel like I'm getting closer and closer. At least now, I feel like I can do it, and it's just a matter of being able to do it."
Kenny Perry and Paul Goydos each had a 68 in the mild, morning breeze on a perfectly conditioned golf course. Sawgrass turned tricky, if not downright difficult, in the afternoon, and Ernie Els was among those who paid dearly.
Els was at 2 under until his wedge came up 20 feet short of the island green on the 17th, and he barely kept his third shot on land. He wound up with a triple bogey, and a 12-foot birdie on the final hole for a 70 didn't improve his spirits much.
"I think they should blow it up," Els said. "Everything you worked for in 4 1/2 hours, in one shot it's all gone."
Of the 34 players who broke par in the opening round, only eight played in the afternoon in the increasingly blustery conditions. Todd Hamilton was the best among late starters with a 69, while Wachovia winner Anthony Kim rallied for a 70.
Even though this tournament has a diverse list of champions, it was no less surprising to see Goydos so high up the leaderboard. He had never broken 70 in his nine previous appearances.
"Skipping 18 was a good idea, though," Goydos said.
Goydos hit one of 19 balls into the water on the 17th, but he scrambled for a bogey and rode that momentum to four birdies over his next six holes.
Phil Mickelson, trying to become the first player in the history of this tournament to successfully defend his title, was flirting with the leaders until a sloppy middle to his round put him at 70. Coming off consecutive birdies, including a wedge to 4 feet on the 17th, Mickelson failed to reach the 18th green from the right rough, then made bogey from 95 yards away in the middle of the fairway on No. 1.
"I feel as though I'm turning 66s into 70s, and I'm going to have to fix that this weekend," he said. "I'm going to have to stop letting those shots slide in the middle of the round that are costing me in the end. But I would have taken anything under par starting the day."
