Garcia’s Five-Under 65 Gives Him Early Lead

Sergio Garcia prefers playing the tough courses, where par is a good score and he doesn’t have to worry about being left behind whenever he misses a putt.

He felt right at home Thursday in the American Express Championship at Woodstock, Ga., where his five-under 65 was one of only 12 scores under par and gave him a one-stroke lead over Rocco Mediate and Tim Herron.

Defending champion Tiger Woods made two long birdie putts and five good par saves and was another stroke back at 67.

“I’ve always felt much better on difficult courses because I don’t feel like it’s so much of a putting competition,” Garcia said. “I’m a bit more relaxed on the course. I know I don’t have to go for every pin, only the ones I feel comfortable with.”

Garcia hit the ball so well that he was putting for birdie on every hole but the 14th, and they weren’t far from the cup.

His longest birdie putt was a 15-footer on No. 2, and he rarely left himself anything but a tap-in for par whenever he missed.

Masters champion Mike Weir bogeyed three of the final seven holes to finish with a 69. Vijay Singh shot a 70.

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Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson, seeking her first LPGA Tour victory in two years, shot a six-under-par 66 and holds a one-stroke lead over three players after the first round of the Longs Drugs Challenge at Lincoln, Calif.

Karrie Webb, Australian compatriot Michelle Ellis and Grace Park of Korea are tied for second with 67s.

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Hidemichi Tanaka saved par after hitting his tee shot into the water on No. 17 and finished with a six-under 66 to share the lead after the first round of the Southern Farm Bureau Classic at Madison, Miss.

Carlos Franco shot a bogey-free round and John Huston made a late charge to tie Tanaka.

Patrick Sheehan and David Edwards were at 67 and six golfers were two strokes behind in a field with few marquee names.

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Hockey

Atlanta Thrasher star Dany Heatley was transferred from Grady Hospital to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta, where he is listed in stable condition.

Heatley was the driver in a one-car accident Monday night that left teammate Dan Snyder unconscious and in critical condition. Snyder’s condition had not changed as of late Thursday afternoon.

Toronto Maple Leaf defenseman Bryan McCabe will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair an undisclosed injury in his knee.

No specifics, including which knee is injured, were released by the Maple Leafs. He is expected to be sidelined for three to six weeks.

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Jurisprudence

Former Tour de France champion Marco Pantani was acquitted of sports fraud charges stemming from a doping test in the 1999 Giro d’Italia, the ANSA news agency in Tione, Italy reported.

The North Carolina state Supreme Court declined to hear the case of former Carolina Panther wide receiver Rae Carruth, who was convicted in the 2001 murder conspiracy of his girlfriend.

Without comment, the state’s highest court declined a request by his attorneys for the justices to hear his appeal.

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Miscellany

Olympic wrestling champion Rulon Gardner won his first two matches at the Greco-Roman World Championships at Creteil, France, and moved within a victory of clinching a berth in the 2004 Athens Games. Gardner dominated Sweden’s Eddy Bengtsson, 4-0 in his opening 264 1/2-pound match, then overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat Israel’s Uri Yusiechik, 5-2.

Top-seeded Tommy Robredo eased into the quarterfinals of the Open de Moselle at Metz, France, by beating Jean-Rene Lisnard, 6-2, 6-2 Thursday.

David Ferrer knocked off eighth-seeded Hicham Arazi, 6-4, 5-7, 6-0.

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T.J. Simers is on assignment.