'El Nino' dissipates Garcia opens with 18-over 89 in British Open first round Click here for more on this story Posted: Thursday July 15, 1999 01:53 PM   On the three finishing holes Garcia carded a double bogey, bogey, and another double bogey. AP CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (AP) -- Sergio Garcia was brimming with confidence on the eve of the British Open. He left without saying a word after signing for an 18-over-par 89 in the first round Thursday at Carnoustie Golf Links. The 19-year-old Spaniard hacked his way to a triple-bogey 7 on the first hole and never recovered. After closing with a double bogey, he walked past about 100 reporters without stopping to answer questions, slipping into the clubhouse with his arm around his mother, Consuelo. "He played terrible, very bad," said his manager Jose Marquina. The decision not to talk and his erratic golf were signs of his inexperience, although playing partner Rocco Mediate said on the course there were no flashes of temper, no bad manners. "He was looking at a huge number and he kept trying to play," said Mediate, who finished with a 6-over 77. "He never whined, he never moaned. He never acted like a kid today." But he did when the round was over. "Yo no quiero hablar," he said in Spanish as he rushed from the scorer's tent. The English translation: "I don't want to speak." Garcia opened with a triple bogey 7 on the first hole and was 5 over after only the first six. It never got better. On the three treacherous finishing holes he carded double bogey, bogey, double bogey. On the 250-yard, par-3 16th, he landed his tee shot in a bunker, then exploded the shot 30 yards over the green. On the 17th, he turned a perfect tee shot into a bogey by three putting. On 18 he was ruined with a drive into a deep, canyon-like bunker and escaped by only inches. "When you start with a triple bogey in a major tournament, it has a major effect," said his caddy Jerry Higginbotham. "I told him he had to forget it. He has a lot of majors to play and I said not to worry about it." "Hey, what did he shoot? 89. Look at the positive. He broke 90." "Sergio didn't get one good bounce, one good break. The bunkers were like magnets for Sergio. I tired to cheer him up. He had to forget it. I said he had a lot of majors to play and not to worry about it." With 7,361-yard Carnoustie playing as tough as any course in the world, Mediate suggested Garcia could "still make the cut, who knows?." And he said with the windy conditions it was difficult "to put your finger on" what went wrong with the young Spaniard, billed as the next Seve Ballesteros. "I told him not to apologize, we all shoot bad scores," Mediate said.   Related information Stories Sergio Garcia's Hole-by-Hole Scorecard On Tiger's Tail Irish eyes smiling on Americans British Open returns to difficult Carnoustie Golf Links Nobody under par at Carnoustie Multimedia Click here for the latest audio and video Search our site Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV. Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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