Sergio Garcia looks for his ball in the rough on the first hole.

Garcia, the Spanish star who was the low amateur at The Masters and won his first European Tour event two weeks ago, shot an 18-over 89 during the opening round of the British Open at Carnoustie.

"Hey, look at the bright side: At least we broke 90," said Garcia's caddie, Jerry Higginbotham, who tried to bring some levity to a tough situation.

Garcia, however, did not see any humor.

"I don't see this as very fair," Garcia said. "It's too difficult. Every single Open has been difficult, but I like to see people enjoying themselves. This year is too tough."

The day began poorly when Garcia hit his tee shot into the right rough on the par-4 first hole. He was only able to advance his second shot some 10 feet, still leaving it in the rough. From there, he found a pot bunker.

"After that, I told him 80 would still be a good score, to hang in there," Higginbotham said. "He hung in there, but nothing would go right. There wasn't one good bounce or one good break today.

"The bunkers were like magnets sucking up every shot. I told him to forget about it. He's got a lot more majors to play in."

Garcia then made consecutive bogeys at the fourth and fifth holes, a bogey at the eighth and a double bogey at the ninth for a 44. Things didn't get much better on the back, where Garcia did manage a birdie at the 14th but doubled the 18th for a 45.

"I told him, 'Who cares?' " said Rocco Mediate, who played with Garcia. "He's 19. Big deal. With these conditions, he can still make the cut. He handled it like he's way older than he is. He was just off. You could see it."

Garcia chose not to speak about his round for some two hours, choosing to compose himself first.