After six unsuccessful tournaments, in that he did not actually win any of them, Tiger Woods was said to be in a slump. If that is the case, what then is Sergio Garcia in? "I suppose you could say a slump," said the 21-year-old Spaniard yesterday, "and I suppose you will. But I do not think of it like that."

Garcia had just produced a three-under-par 69 in the first round of the Spanish Open, at El Saler here, and pronounced himself contento with the way he had played. He is five behind the leader Andrew Oldcorn, three behind Jean-Francois Remesy and two behind a clutch of five-unders, including Darren Clarke and former Walker Cup player Graham Rankin.

Garcia has not won for 19 months, not an eventuality that would have been predicted five months into his professional career, by which time he had won twice on the European tour. Since then, nada.

The young Spaniard is fed up with being asked why, but he was patient in the extreme when asked again yesterday. "Because you do not win, it does not mean you are a bad player. Is Davis Love a bad player? I forget how many seconds he has, but it is a lot.

"Of course it is all about winning. I know that. I accept that. But I have plenty of time, I am still learning. Every tournament I go to I think `I want to win this week' but I do not think `I must win this week'. That would be counter-productive."

Garcia certainly wants to win this particular week. He regards the Open title of his home country as the fifth most important tournament in which he plays, behind the majors, and he was encouraged by the way he hit the ball. "I missed four times from inside 10 feet," he said. "If they go in a good round becomes a great one."

El Saler has a history of great rounds, the greatest of which is a contender for the greatest round in European Tour history, Bernhard Langer's 62. It won him the Spanish Open of 1984 and was regarded at the time as close to miraculous.

Yesterday Oldcorn was eight under with four to play, including a long hole, but although the Langer score flashed across his mind, beating it did not. "Quite apart from anything else," said the sensible Oldcorn, "we were playing preferred lies, so it wouldn't have counted anyway." Heavy storms hit Valencia earlier in the week and even El Saler, a genuine links course, suffered.

If you want to hit a record round it helps to start with six in succession, but that was as far as Clarke got yesterday. He was only five-under after 18, the magic having departed abruptly from his putter.

There was a welcome sign that Severiano Ballesteros may have come to the end of his tether. It has been sad to see the most inspirational golfer of our time playing almost total rubbish these last four years, and he has done it, furthermore, with unnatural forebearance.

Here, though, he lashed out. He hit a drive into some of that ferocious iceplant stuff, shifted his second no more than 60 yards and then, in an action that would be perfectly understood by anyone ever denied by this vicious plant, set about it with his club, according to tournament director Miguel Vidaor, "repeatedly and violently".

The golfing world will be a better place as a result of that, but unfortunately officialdom sees these things differently and, although Ballesteros apologised, a fine seems certain.