It is eight years since Sergio Garcia walked off the 18th green at Carnoustie straight into the arms of his mother, and cried his heart out.

Only three months after turning pro, he had just completed the worst two rounds of his young and immensely promising career – rounds of  89 and 83 – to finish last in the British Open. He has not been back to his private Hell since. That is until yesterday.

Oh, what a different story. He confronted his demons head on and conquered them, striding off the last green with a six-under-par 65 alongside his name and a two-shot lead after the first round of the 136th Open Championship.

'He played the first nine with care and let loose after the turn, picking up four more birdies in five holes. Then crowd was buzzing, Sergio was on a surge'


The dynamic and enigmatic Spaniard was in control once again, finding the fairways, controlling  the undulations of  the course and its teasing greens, and entertaining the huge crowds with his almost jaunty, cavalier approach.

And much to the delight of every European golf enthusiast, Garcia has fellow Ryder Cup star Paul McGinley as company two shots behind at the top of the leader board after the first day. The bad news is that there is a pack of foreign invaders in their slipstream, including the ever daunting figure of the current champion and world No 1, Tiger Woods.

But it was Garcia’s day as he started with a birdie (how different to his triple-bogey seven in 1999) at the first and took that as a self-confident cue. He  played the first nine with care and let loose after the turn, picking up four more birdies in five holes. Then crowd was buzzing, Sergio was on a surge.

It wasn’t until the 16th that he found his first spot of  bunker trouble to drop a shot, but he quickly retrieved that with a birdie at the 17th. And when he walked off the last green with a 65 to his name, who was there to greet him again but his mother. This time there were smiles and hugs and a quiet celebration.

McGinley had held the lead for most of the day until Garcia’s late charge, but he was delighted with his 67 in what were probably most testing conditions earlier in the day. And the Irishman was thrilled with his effort. He hasn’t had a top 10 finish all year but put his disappointments behind him. As he said afterwards: ”I played with quality, and this is a pretty good tournament to do it in.”

McGinley’s first nine 29 was only one shot outside the Open record set at Lytham in 1996. But he’s aware of the dangers ahead on the longest course in Open history. He admits he isn’t a power player and hates the cold – that’s why he was seen walking round yesterday wearing thick furry gloves at every opportunity.

So while European hopes are high, there is a whole pack of wolves – and a Tiger – close behind. New Zealand’s 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell shares third spot with current US Open champion Angel Cabrera, Austrian Markus Brier, American debutant Boo Weekley and, incredibly, the youngest player in the field, 18-year-old Rory McIlroy, the European amateur champion from (of all places) Hollywood in Northern Ireland.

But, as I say, there’s a Tiger lurking, along with a huge group, at two-under-par, only four shots adrift. The dangers are clear and ever present.