Sergio Garcia had an enjoyable day on a course that's never been one of his favorites.
The shots were true. The putter was steady. The score was good enough for the Masters lead.
Now comes the hard part: holding it together for another three days.
"We'll see what happens," Garcia said, sounding a bit apprehensive.
For the impetuous Spaniard, that's always been the conundrum. How can a golfer of such talent have gone this long without winning a major title? Why does he keep blowing it on golf's biggest stages?
Well, here he is again, sharing the top spot with Marc Leishman after a 6-under 66 Thursday, ripping up Augusta National with a performance that came with only one complaint: It could've been even better.
That it happened in the Masters was even more remarkable, considering this is the one major where Garcia has never been much of a factor.
"Obviously, it's not my most favorite place," he said. "We try to enjoy it as much as we can each time we come here. Sometimes it comes out better than others, but today is was one of those days. You know, let's enjoy it while it lasts."
In recent years, Garcia seemed resigned to the perception that time had passed him by — even at the relatively young age of 33.
Until Thursday, he had not led in any round of a major since the British Open at Carnoustie in 2007, when he set the pace the first three days but lost — of course — to Padraig Harrington in a playoff.
That was the latest in a series of bitter disappointments, of close-but-no-cigar calls in every major championship but the Masters, where he has only two top-10 finishes in his previous 14 appearances.
Last year, he shot himself out of contention during a dismal third round and bluntly declared he just didn't have the game or temperament to win a major championship — certainly not at Augusta.
"Maybe I didn't say it the right way because it was one of those frustrating moments," he conceded.
There was none of that frustration on the opening day of this Masters. The first 10 holes might've been as good as Garcia can play, a 5-under score he made look downright easy.
"If I manage to make a couple of putts that kind of stayed around the lip, I could have been probably 7- or 8-under par through 10," Garcia said. "It was that good."
We've seen this from him before, just not over the entire four days of a major.
That will be the big question when he tees off Friday morning after heavy overnight rains soaked the course, perhaps setting up another day of low scores.
"Every time I tee it off, I try to play as well as I can, hope that my best that week is really, really good," he said. "My best was pretty good, and I'm looking forward to doing the same thing the next three days. It will be really nice."
Plenty of players took advantage of the gentle conditions.
Even an eighth-grader.
Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old from China and youngest to compete in a major in 148 years, played well beyond his age. He holed a 15-foot putt from just off the 18th green for a respectable round of 73 and a reasonable chance of making the cut.
Tiger Woods wasn't far off as he began his quest for a fifth green jacket. Wild at the start, including a tee shot that knocked a cup of beer out of a spectator's hand, Woods settled into a groove and opened with a 70 as his girlfriend, Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn, watched on a few holes.
The shots were true. The putter was steady. The score was good enough for the Masters lead.
Now comes the hard part: holding it together for another three days.
"We'll see what happens," Garcia said, sounding a bit apprehensive.
For the impetuous Spaniard, that's always been the conundrum. How can a golfer of such talent have gone this long without winning a major title? Why does he keep blowing it on golf's biggest stages?
Well, here he is again, sharing the top spot with Marc Leishman after a 6-under 66 Thursday, ripping up Augusta National with a performance that came with only one complaint: It could've been even better.
That it happened in the Masters was even more remarkable, considering this is the one major where Garcia has never been much of a factor.
"Obviously, it's not my most favorite place," he said. "We try to enjoy it as much as we can each time we come here. Sometimes it comes out better than others, but today is was one of those days. You know, let's enjoy it while it lasts."
In recent years, Garcia seemed resigned to the perception that time had passed him by — even at the relatively young age of 33.
Until Thursday, he had not led in any round of a major since the British Open at Carnoustie in 2007, when he set the pace the first three days but lost — of course — to Padraig Harrington in a playoff.
That was the latest in a series of bitter disappointments, of close-but-no-cigar calls in every major championship but the Masters, where he has only two top-10 finishes in his previous 14 appearances.
Last year, he shot himself out of contention during a dismal third round and bluntly declared he just didn't have the game or temperament to win a major championship — certainly not at Augusta.
"Maybe I didn't say it the right way because it was one of those frustrating moments," he conceded.
There was none of that frustration on the opening day of this Masters. The first 10 holes might've been as good as Garcia can play, a 5-under score he made look downright easy.
"If I manage to make a couple of putts that kind of stayed around the lip, I could have been probably 7- or 8-under par through 10," Garcia said. "It was that good."
We've seen this from him before, just not over the entire four days of a major.
That will be the big question when he tees off Friday morning after heavy overnight rains soaked the course, perhaps setting up another day of low scores.
"Every time I tee it off, I try to play as well as I can, hope that my best that week is really, really good," he said. "My best was pretty good, and I'm looking forward to doing the same thing the next three days. It will be really nice."
Plenty of players took advantage of the gentle conditions.
Even an eighth-grader.
Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old from China and youngest to compete in a major in 148 years, played well beyond his age. He holed a 15-foot putt from just off the 18th green for a respectable round of 73 and a reasonable chance of making the cut.
Tiger Woods wasn't far off as he began his quest for a fifth green jacket. Wild at the start, including a tee shot that knocked a cup of beer out of a spectator's hand, Woods settled into a groove and opened with a 70 as his girlfriend, Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn, watched on a few holes.