A day before Sergio Garcia was disqualified from the inaugural Saudi International, he had a meltdown in a bunker that may have indicated what was to come the next day.
During the second round on Friday, Garcia found a bunker with his second shot on the par-5 fourth hole at host Royal Greens Golf and Country Club. His ball wound up with a particularly bad lie. With his third shot, he was unable to escape the bunker. After trying again out of the bunker with his fourth shot, Garcia smashed his club repeatedly, pounding the sand.
Sergio Garcia’s meltdown in a Royal Greens bunker a day prior to his disqualification for vandalism work on five greens. Story by @SkySportsGolf fills in details. Translations welcomed! https://t.co/UoGmPtTOz4 pic.twitter.com/dQMDN7y2PC
— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) February 4, 2019
Garcia then went on a small rant in Spanish. “Puta madre que les pario a todos,” Garcia began, which translates to "The whore who gave birth to them all," before saying, “putos caddys de mierda que no estan arreglando el bunker” or “piece of sh*t caddies aren’t fixing the bunker.”
At the end, Garcia expectorated in frustration. He then went on to make a par 5. He made the cut by two shots.
A day later, Garcia would damage five greens at Royal Greens, four with scuff marks and another with a large divot mark. The European Tour disqualified Garcia under Rule 1.2a, which allows blanket disqualification if a player commits a serious breach of the Rules of Golf.
In a statement, Garcia said: “I respect the decision of my disqualification. In frustration, I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologize for, and I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again.”
On Sunday, European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said Garcia would not be further sanctioned, suspended or fined after apologizing for his actions.
No footage of Garcia's Saturday spree on the greens has appeared. Sky Sports says they did not have video cameras rolling because Garcia was out among the earlier tee times on Saturday. Photographic evidence may exist to show the totality of the damage, but it hasn't been released.
