When Sergio Garcia won the Masters in 2017, a lot of people, including myself, figured Garcia had matured as a golfer enough to win a major and perhaps matured as a person, too, a soon-to-be happily married man.
Yeah, that wasn't the case. Garcia's antics persisted, and frankly became more embarrassing in 2019. The latest incident happened on Sunday at Royal Portrush in the final round of the 2019 British Open Championship.
After hitting his tee shot on the drivable par-4 fifth hole, Garcia, last to play and clearly disgusted with the results, starts walking out of the tee box dragging his driver on the ground with him. He then suddenly throws the club in the general direction of his caddie without warning.
Look at this child @TheSergioGarcia throwing his club at his caddy @TheOpen. Recorded on Sunday. Share!!@PGATOUR @PGA @EuropeanTour @SkySportsGolf @NBCGolfChannel @adidasGolf @GOLFTV @IrishGolfDesk @ShaneODonoghue @RoyCurtis68 @gregallenRTE @jcorrigangolf @MattCooperGolf pic.twitter.com/Zm6OInyotk
— ⚽Ray Owens⚽ (@RayOwensMU20) July 23, 2019
The gallery behind the tee murmured in shock at what Garcia did.
It doesn't matter where Garcia was in the round or the tournament. This kind of thing is inexcusable. Caddies put up with a lot from players, including stuff that would be considered verbal abuse in some circles but is absolved as being in the heat of the moment. The line is crossed, however, when a player blindly chucks a club at someone who is supposed to be on their team.
This is the second particularly shameful on-course incident this year. At the controversial inaugural Saudi International on the European Tour in February, Garcia absolutely lost it in a bunker in the second round of the tournament. Upset over a poor rake job in a bunker, the Spaniard smashed his club in the sand again and again before cussing out the absent offending caddie in Spanish.
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
A day later, Garcia intentionally damaged a handful of greens on the Saudi host course, earning a disqualification from the European Tour. Garcia was disqualified under Rule 1.2a, which allows blanket disqualification if a player commits a serious breach of the Rules of Golf.
In his US debut in February at Riviera, Garcia tried to justify the two-day meltdown by saying he received "emotional, personal news" that altered his emotional state.
