Sergio Garcia leads Players

The flag was in a tempting location, back and left on the 13th green at the TPC Sawgrass with a pond running alongside the left side. Sergio Garcia took dead aim with a 7-iron and the ball never left its target.

This is nothing new with Garcia, who rarely struggles to make solid contact.

What pleased him was to see the 6-foot putt break sharply toward the water and drop into the center of the cup for one of seven birdies Thursday at The Players Championship, leading to a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead.

“I’m just looking forward to keep doing the same things — keep hitting the ball well, keep chipping well and keep putting well,” Garcia said. “And then hopefully, by the end of the week, we’ll be where we are supposed to be.”

That would be posing with a trophy, something Garcia, 28, has not done in nearly three years.

The Spaniard has strung together three impressive rounds on the frightening Stadium Course, even if his timing is a little off. The first two scores (67-66) came last year and enabled him to finish second. This one was merely a great start, but he’ll take it.

Garcia is mired in an 0-for-53 drought on the PGA Tour, the longest of his career, and while he is savvy enough to realize that leading after one round only amounts to a pat on the back, it was a small step in the right direction.

“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 even 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.”

Garcia might face a tougher task in the second round, for he also played in the morning. Only eight of the 34 rounds under par came in the afternoon with increasingly blustery conditions.

Todd Hamilton was the best among late starters with a 69, while Wachovia winner Anthony Kim rallied for a 70.

Goydos was among 19 players who contributed 20 balls into the pond that surrounds the island green, although he escaped with a bogey that changed his fortunes. Goydos rode that save to three consecutive birdies on his back nine and a round in the 60s for the first time in his 10 trips to The Players Championship.

“Skipping 18 was a good idea, though,” Goydos said.

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.