Sergio Garcia got very mad. Now he’s very sorry.
Two days removed from a property-damaging outburst at the Masters, Garcia, 46, apologized for his behavior on social media.
“I want to apologize for my actions on Sunday at The Masters tournament,” the 2017 Masters champ wrote Tuesday on X. “I respect and value everything that The Masters and Augusta National Golf club is to Golf. I regret the way I acted. It has no place in our game. It doesn’t reflect the appreciation I have for The Masters, the patrons, tournament officials and golf fans around the world.”
His mea culpa was in reference to a final-round incident in which Garcia, frustrated by an errant drive on the par-5 second hole, sledgehammered his club into the teeing area twice, tearing gouges in the turf. He then banged his driver against a nearby cooler, snapping the club head in the process.
Two holes later, on the fourth tee, Masters competition committee chairman Geoff Yang slapped Garcia with a code-of-conduct warning, acting on a policy implemented at the tournament for the first time this year. Under the policy, a first violation triggers a warning, a second carries a two-shot penalty and a third results in disqualification.
In a terse interview with reporters after his round, Garcia declined to offer details of his exchange with Yang. “I’m not going to tell you. Next question,” he said. Nor did he apologize for his conduct.
“Just obviously not super proud of it, but sometimes it happens,” Garcia said.
It has happened to Garcia on more than one occasion. At the 2007 WGC-CA Championship, he spat into the cup on a par 3 after three-putting for bogey. In 2019, he was disqualified from the Saudi International for damaging multiple greens in anger.
This latest fit of pique comes amid a prolonged period of frustration for Garcia, who has spoken openly about his battles with his swing. His recent record reflects those struggles. Since winning the green jacket nine years ago in a sudden-death playoff over Justin Rose, Garcia has finished outside the top 10 in 29 major-championship appearances and has missed the cut in six of eight Masters.
This week, he scraped his way into the weekend but closed with a 75 on Sunday that left him in 52nd place among the 54 players who made the cut. His performance, though, won’t likely be remembered for his score. Sunday’s outburst was Garcia’s second club-breaking incident in as many majors. In the final round of last year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush, he broke his driver in half while slamming it on the ground on the second hole.
