Garcia Has a Showing for Ages

By THOMAS BONK

Aug. 13, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

MEDINAH, Ill. —

Here at the PGA Championship, where they have been singing the U.S. fight song in total disharmony, an actual, real-life hero emerged, one who had absolutely nothing to do with getting paid at the Ryder Cup.

So on opening day, in a first round played in rain and then sunshine, the lead belonged to Sergio Garcia, a 19-year-old Spanish sensation who may actually have accomplished the near impossible.

Could he shift the focus away from the Ryder Cup to an actual major golf tournament?

Not exactly, as it turned out. Hey, that’s the way it goes and you can’t blame Garcia. All he did Thursday was equal the competitive course record with a six-under-par 66 to claim a two-shot lead in the 81st and one of the most contentious PGA Championships on record.

A pro for all of three months, Garcia made four birdies on the back nine at Medinah Country Club, chipped in on No. 2, sank a 30-foot putt on No. 16 and became the youngest player to lead the PGA in the stroke-play era.

Afterward, Garcia was at a loss for words . . . at least momentarily.

“I don’t know what can I say,” he said.

Soon, he recovered. Garcia is a precocious--can we say cocky?--youngster whose talent is so great that he shocked the golf world when he collapsed with a first-round 89 at the British Open in his first major as a professional last month.

That he lowered that score by 23 shots here did not even come close to resembling something Garcia wished to discuss.

“I just want to say one thing,” he said. “The British Open is done, so I don’t want to hear any more questions about the Open.”

Well, sorry, Sergio. In the meantime, there remain plenty of questions about who’s destined to win this PGA, which has been looking a lot more like some pre-Ryder Cup warmup event than a major championship.

Garcia birdied two of the last three holes to take his two-shot lead over Jay Haas, J.P. Hayes and Mike Weir, who produced four-under 68s on the 7,401-yard layout among the trees.

While it may not have been a particularly charming opening round--except for the leaders, of course--at least the golfers were banging balls on the course instead of banging on each other over the Ryder Cup issue. There were 15 players left on the course when play was called because of darkness, their rounds incomplete thanks to a 47-minute rain delay.

For a while, though, it seemed as if the best thing that happened in the first round was the rain delay.

Garcia’s sudden, sodden show of power can only be considered good news for the beleaguered PGA, which had taken more hits than Tony Gwynn has stroked before it even got started.

Garcia clearly livened up the moribund proceedings that were dominated earlier in the day by the trio of Haas, Hayes and Weir, a group that has accumulated one victory among them over the last six years.

Haas, 45, would be the leader of that group with nine victories in his 23-year career. He was in the sixth group of the day and started in the rain, which made the course play longer, but also made the greens softer and easier to putt.

When he thought about it afterward, Haas was far from upset about his beginning.

“You know, 68 in a major championship, I don’t care if the greens are soft or not on a course that’s 7,400 yards long,” Haas said. “I’m sure there are a lot of people that would take that.”

And there’s a group of four tied for fifth at three-under 69 who felt the same way. Foremost among them was Jerry Kelly, who didn’t even know he was going to play until Frankie Minoza of the Philippines withdrew because of a knee injury. Kelly, the first alternate, even led the tournament briefly at three-under on the front.

Brian Watts, Stewart Cink and Brandt Jobe equaled Kelly at 69. Corey Pavin was at three-under through 16 holes when play was suspended.

At the moment, Garcia is out front and liking it. Maybe he’s liking it even more after missing the cut in his last two events, the British Open, where he was 30 over par, and last week at the Buick Open.

Garcia is a man of few words and low scores, as it turns out. During the rain delay, he turned to a ham and cheese sandwich, then described how he felt afterward.

“I felt really good,” he said.

And what was the key to his round?

“The key was everything.”

Could he be more specific?

“I think everything went right. That was the main key.”

Oh.

Garcia has three more rounds to see if he can keep it going. Maybe he will be helped by the practice round he played with Tiger Woods, who is four shots back after opening with a 70, the same as David Duval.

Maybe Garcia will put even more distance between himself and the rest of the field. Maybe he won’t. Whatever he does, he says he is going to do it confidently.

“Why not? I know it’s difficult, but I’m going to try to do my best. I have to show it, but I think I’m good enough to stay where I am. So I’ll try.”

And if he has any time left over, maybe he can mediate this nasty little U.S. Ryder Cup compensation squabble. Then he really would be a superstar.

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS

Sergio Garcia 34-32--66 -6

Jay Haas 35-33--68 -4

Mike Weir 36-32--68 -4

J.P. Hayes 35-33--68 -4

Jerry Kelly 34-35--69 -3

Brian Watts 33-36--69 -3

Stewart Cink 33-36--69 -3

Brandt Jobe 34-35--69 -3

ALSO