Strong start from Masters champ Garcia puts him in third

Sergio Garcia marked his first appearance on European soil since winning the Masters by heading into the second day of the BMW International in third place.

The Spaniard launched his round with six birdies as he compiled a six-under-par 66 to leave him trailing clubhouse leader Wade Ormsby of Australia by two shots with Belgium’s Thomas Detry sandwiching the pair.

Garcia won the first major of his career in April when he beat Justin Rose in a sudden death play-off to claim the Masters and is one of three players on six under at the Golfclub Munchen in Munich.

Defending champion Henrik Stenson is a shot behind on five under, where he is joined by England’s Richard Bland, James Morrison, Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Southgate.

“It was great,” said Garcia to the European Tour’s official website.

“I felt like I played quite well, not spectacular, but very consistent throughout the whole day. I was very happy to see some of the shots I hit and some of the putts I made and very happy with my six under.

“There’s still three more to go, so we’re going to keep playing hard and hopefully we’ll have some more like this and we’ll be up there on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, on the PGA Tour, local hopeful Brett Stegmaier took the early lead at the Travelers Championship, where Scotland’s Russell Knox is the defending champion.

Stegmaier shot a six-underpar 64 to tie Johnson Wagner for the early lead on day one in Connecticut.

The 33-year-old Stegmaier made five birdies on his front nine but bogeyed his final hole. He grew up about 25 miles from the course in Madison.

Wagner made birdies on four of his first six holes.

Rory Mcilroy, playing for the first time at TPC River Highlands, shot a 67.

The world No 3 started on the back nine and his only bogey came on the 18th when he missed a 13-foot birdie putt by three feet, then lipped the cup on his par attempt. 0 Spain’s Sergio Garcia lines up a putt on the third green.