Garcia well placed a shot back

Sergio Garcia's mouth says school boy. But his game screams U.S. Open contender.

While he still shows signs of his video-game youth, Garcia continues to develop a golf game that may make him a major winner this week.

Just keep him away from the girls.

The 22-year-old Spanish star grabbed the early clubhouse lead Thursday at the U.S. Open with an opening-round, 2-under-par 68 at Bethpage State Park's brutal Black Course.

He handled the longest layout in Open history as well as anyone, signing a scorecard that included just one bogey before going to sleep a stroke behind world No. 1 Tiger Woods.

"The playing conditions were probably as easy as they can get or close to it," he said. "There was not much wind, the greens were a little softer than yesterday. But still, it was playing really hard."

The difficulty of a course used to have an effect on Garcia, who never cracked the top 25 in his first eight apearances at The Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. But time's have changed.

So has his mental approach. Once a cocky teenager that allowed his emotions to get the best of him, Garcia now is a cocky star with a mind that compliments his game.

"It's pretty much the same," he said. "More than anything, what I'm trying to do is get my emotions to a better level, so when I'm doing well, of course, I'm happy, and I show it. But I'm not too happy."

Other than his runner-up finish to Tiger Woods at the 1999 PGA Championship, Garcia hasn't been too happy following major tournaments. But that began to change at last year's Open.

Entering the final round at Southern Hills just a stroke off the pace, Garcia closed with a 77 that left him in a tie for 12th.

But he remembers the first 54 holes more than the last 18, and that helped him Thursday at one of the most grueling courses in Open history.

"The course is playing hard, so you've just got to take one shot at a time, one hole at a time, and try to manage it the best you can," he said. "And that's what I did last year."

He also claimed his first two PGA Tour crowns last season, winning the Colonial and Buick Classic. He opened 2002 with a victory at the winners-only Mercedes Championships.

Although he has struggled since his top-10 finish at The Masters, Garcia entered the Open with confidence, much of which comes from relationships with his father and tennis star Martina Hingis.

Once a child prodigy, Garcia called his dad the best thing he could have in his life. Victor Garcia is a teaching pro in Spain who taught his son the game at the age of 3.

"I have a brother and sister and he's spent more time with me than with them because of what he saw in me," Garcia said. "And I'm glad he did, and I'm really thankful for everything he's done for me."

Garcia also has grown strength from his close friendship with the 21-year-old Hingis, one of the best female tennis players in the world who has won five Grand Slam singles titles.

"It does help," Garcia said. "She's in a very similar position to me. She knows what I'm going through. She knows what it feels to be in this kind of position. And that's helpful."

While Garcia has begun to show the graciousness of a grizzled veteran, he also shows glimpses of his everlasting youth, especially when it comes to his conversations with someone like Hingis.

"They don't give you a boring face because they don't know what's going on, and with her I'm able to find that," he said. "And that's not easy to get from a girl."

Everything seems to be getting easier for Garcia.