Elkington heads Aussies in the US

Steve Elkington returned to a happy hunting ground to head the Australian contingent during the opening round at the $US9.5 million ($A10.09 million) Players Championship on Friday.

Elkington, a two-time winner of the prestigious event, was out in the first group of the day, and he certainly took advantage of his early tee time on an idyllic, calm morning at the Sawgrass TPC.

After bogeying two of the first three holes, the 45-year-old veteran stormed back to card a three-under-par 69, three strokes behind Spanish leader Sergio Garcia with half the field back in the clubhouse.

"I was very happy with my round," said Elkington, whose last victory here came in 1997.

"Obviously the 7.20 tee time helped me.

"It's not really so much exciting, because there's a lot of work left, so you can't really jump up and down about it, but it is certainly a nice way to start."

Elkington was the only Australian to take advantage of the conditions, although Aaron Baddeley's 71 was no disgrace, and Rod Pampling did himself no harm with a 72.

But Geoff Ogilvy (77), Stephen Leaney (77) and Nathan Green (78) dug themselves into a deep hole.

"I struggled off the tee," said Baddeley. "My driver didn't want to work but I was happy with the way I ground it out. I got up-and-down twice for bogey after hitting it in the water.

"Last week I had three doubles and a triple (bogey). That puts you out of the tournament, so it was nice to (limit the damage) today."

Leader Garcia reeled off seven birdies to shoot 66, earning a two-stroke lead over Americans Kenny Perry and Paul Goydos.

"I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens and made some good putts when I had to," said Garcia, who was runner-up here last year.

He has been quiet since a heartbreaking play-off loss to Padraig Harrington at last year's British Open, but you can't keep such a talented man down forever.

Putting problems have dogged Garcia the past few years, but he seems to be on the right track since starting to work with noted short game instructor Stan Utley, a former touring professional.

"My main idea was to get back to the way I used to putt 10 or 12 years ago, when I was a good putter," he said. "Now there's a little bit less to work on, because it keeps getting better every day."