Sergio Garcia hates the greens at the U.S. Open and he’s not alone

It didn’t take Sergio Garcia long to commence harping about the conditions at Chambers Bay, specifically the putting surfaces, which are visually pleasing to no one.

Garcia ended his personal three-year U.S. Open over-par streak with a 70 Thursday to sit five shots off the opening-round 5-under pace set by Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson. But it took the former El Nino 33 putts to get there, and he went to Twitter to express his displeasure with the blotchy, erratic greens.

It wouldn’t be a major without some whining from Garcia and reaction to his latest complaint was pretty much what one might expect.

Garcia, who the tweeters pointed out has yet to win a grand slam event, responded to the naysayers with another tweet a half-hour later explaining his original comment.

Garcia contended he was courageously speaking for his lily-livered peers, who lacked the chutzpah to air their own grievances.

Not quite true, since Rory McIlroy and Colin Montgomerie each had his say about the greens.

McIlroy, who struggled with short putts all day, pretty much agreed with Garcia, though with a tad more diplomacy.

“They are not the best I have putted on but I should be used to it, as the last two tournaments I’ve played have been just as bad,” McIlroy told Sky Sports after carding a 72.

“It’s hard to pick the line and trust it and then you start making tentative strokes and you are not getting a true roll on the ball,” added McIlroy, who missed consecutive cuts at the BMW PGA Championship and Irish Open before taking a break ahead of the U.S. Open. “I need to work on that before tomorrow’s round and see if I can figure something out.”

Monty, in contention at 1-under in his first U.S. Open since 2008, was less tactful.

“The greens themselves, that is the poorest part of this. I don’t want to be critical in any way, because of everything that has been done here,” he told Sky Sports News HQ. “But the greens are very, very poor. The quality of the surface of the greens is extremely poor. That is going to take away the consistency of the putts.

“The 10-footers that you see people hole all the time, that won’t be happening this week. The greens are extremely poor,” Montgomerie said. “A course of this demanding nature had to be in perfect condition and unfortunately it is not.”