Sergio Garcia lived up to his billing as pre-tournament favourite when he moved into a share of the clubhouse lead with fellow countryman Carlos Rodiles after the end of the first day’s play in the rain-hit Mallorca Clasisic.
Just like in the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth Club in England, inclement weather figured largely in the day’s events, over two hours of play lost at Pula Golf Club, meaning that a large number of players had still to complete their opening rounds.
Amongst that number were Frenchman Francois Delamontagne and England’s Simon Khan, who both stood at five under the card after having completed nine and 13 holes of their first round respectively, but it was Garcia and Rodiles who held sway.
Garcia, who along with Lee Westwood was Europe’s joint top points scorer in The Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills Country Club, carded five birdies in total in his opening round, which more than made up for his only dropped shot of the day, which came at the 382 yard fourth.
Rodiles, searching for his maiden European Tour victory, was flawless in his opening round, carding four birdies without error, the final one to cement his place as joint clubhouse leader, coming at the par three 18th.
One shot behind the leading clubhouse duo were three players who completed opening 67s, Spaniards Santiago Luna and Tomas Jesus Munoz, alongside Sweden’s Robert Karlsson.
