He's only two strokes behind leader Vijay Singh and one back of Craig Parry and finds himself in a four-way tie for third along with Tiger Woods on a star-studded leaderboard.

"Of course, I'm happy with the result," Garcia said. "I hit a lot of good shots and a lot of good putts. I, unfortunately, didn't make many, but you know it was a good day and I am just hoping to keep it going for the rest of the week and the rest of the year."

Starting off a bit tentatively on the front nine because of a little off-season break, Garcia said he played solid on the back nine in joining Singh and Chad Campbell as the only players recording bogey-free rounds.

"I feel comfortable about my game," Garcia said. "I think my putting has improved quite a bit. So I've just got to keep it going the same way."

Garcia also has a little history on his side, having won the Mercedes Championships here three years ago.

"It does (help) a little bit, yeah, no doubt," he said. "It might make you feel a bit more comfortable. But at the end of the day, you still have to perform and play well, and make the putts and hit the shots."

So far, though, you can throw course knowledge out the window, according to Garcia and Woods, who won here in 2000.

"We come here and it's usually the greens don't have much grass," said Garcia, who had to remark to his caddy that, "I've never seen this course with so much grass. It's amazing."

Said Woods: "I've never seen (the greens) like this before, where they are so slow and grainy ... it's just unreal."

Added Singh, who finished second to last year's winner Stuart Appleby by one stroke: "That's why I guess everybody must have missed a lot of putts out there."

The lushness of the course can be attributed to the four inches of rain that soaked the West Maui area Saturday.

However, things should get up to speed — especially the greens as they firm up — going into the weekend, making it to the liking of the elite 31-player field of 2004 winners in the PGA Tour's season opener.

And Garcia is looking forward to not only this week but the rest of the year.

"There's a lot of good players up there. It should be an exciting year. I'm looking forward to it," said Garcia, who won twice last year but is still looking for his first major championship.

"I'm working hard to try to get my majors, hopefully soon," he added. "But you know it's not something you can rush. You have to keep giving yourself chances.

"I think I'm giving myself good opportunities of winning majors and, you know, that's all I can do at the moment," said Garcia, who finished tied for fourth in last year's Masters, second in the 1999 PGA Championship and fourth in the 2002 U.S. Open. He also has four other top-10 finishes in 23 majors.

Besides, Garcia points out, what's the rush.

"I find it a bit funny because, you know, I'm 24, almost 25, and they are putting me on that (best player, no major) list already."