Masters star Sergio Garcia left feeling like he's 'gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson'

Sergio Garcia could not resist making light of a difficult opening round as he braved the elements (Image: Getty)

Masters hopeful Sergio Garcia admitted that his opening round at Augusta National left him feeling like he had gone the distance with Mike Tyson in the boxing ring. The Spaniard made a mercurial start to his attempts for a second title at the iconic Georgia course as he battled the elements to end level-par 72.

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The 2017 champion certainly caught the eye on his return to Augusta as he teed off dressed in a brave green and yellow outfit, with his wife Angela wearing the same colours in solidarity prior to the event. When he eventually got down to business, the LIV Golf rebel was left three over par with six holes to go, before rallying with three birdies to end on 72.

A mixed day on the course for the 44-year-old, his efforts appeared to leave him exhausted following a tasking outing as he braved strong winds during his opening round. With storms having set back proceedings by over two hours on the first day, Garcia had previously spoken about the impact of the weather on the difficulty of various holes on the iconic course.

It appears that the one-time major championships winner's prophecy came true during his first round showing too, as he labored through his Augusta return. Speaking afterwards, he confessed to some struggles in the opener, acknowledging: "It's challenging, that's for sure.

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Sergio Garcia experienced an action-packed opening round at the Masters at Augusta National (Image: Getty)

"It was very tricky, not only because of the strength of the wind but the gusts," he continued, providing some insight into the challenges he had to contend with. "On this golf course you have to be so precise with everything you do and all the shots into the greens. Not only on the tee, off the tee, but into the greens.

"When you have wind like this that is gusting and you don't know if it's blowing five or 30 (miles per hour), it's very difficult. Obviously it happened to me a couple of times today where I felt like I hit a good shot. Ryan (Fox) hit a pitching wedge on 12 and hit it in the middle of the green about 15 feet away.

"I hit a nine iron and I was 15 yards shorter than him. I caught a big gust and made a double bogey," he said before making an amusingly humble quip, adding: "It feels like I've just gone 12 rounds against Mike Tyson. I'm looking forward to going home and rest."

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Discussing the conditions before his opening round, Garcia admitted: "You talk about it a little bit, and there are some different things that you can do here and there, but at the end of the day, it’s still about hitting the shots. It’s as simple and as difficult as that. So you just got to try to do the best there.

“With as high as these pine trees are, it becomes tricky to know exactly where the wind is. When it blows a little bit harder, it’s actually not easier, but you can guess it's a little bit better because it’s more consistent. If it’s switching all the time, then it becomes a little bit trickier."

The Spanish ace added: "But if it’s consistently blowing one way, at least you know more or less what it’s doing. Then on a course like this, where you have to be so precise in every single shot that you hit, when you play with that amount of wind, it becomes very, very challenging."

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Masters star Sergio Garcia left feeling like he's 'gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson'

Masters star Sergio Garcia left feeling like he's 'gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson'

Masters star Sergio Garcia left feeling like he's 'gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson'

Masters star Sergio Garcia left feeling like he's 'gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson'

Masters star Sergio Garcia left feeling like he's 'gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson'