Sergio Garcia was in a foul mood during the final round of the Masters, and his conduct led to an official warning from Augusta National, which also had to pull Bob MacIntyre up on his behaviour
Sergio Garcia received an official warning from head of the Masters’ competition committe, Geoff Yang(Image: Augusta National)
Sergio Garcia was given an official warning by Augusta National after damaging a tee box and breaking his driver during the final round of the Masters.
Garcia has cut a dejected figure throughout the week, and although he safely made the cut, he has failed to make a meaningful impression on the leaderboard. His frustrations peaked at the second hole on Sunday, losing his drive out to the right and finding the bunker on the par-five.
Garcia, who was six over par at the time, was disgusted with the shot, and he reacted by slamming his driver against the ground twice, uprooting a chunk of turf. He then turned towards a water cooler and wrapped his driver shaft around its leg.
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The shaft snapped, with the club head hanging on by a thread, meaning he had to complete his round without a driver. By the time he reached the 10th hole, he was two over par for the day and seven over for the tournament
Viewers were displeased by his actions on the second tee, with some calling for him to face the wrath of Augusta National. They got their wish just a couple of holes later when Garcia was met by Geoff Yang, head of the competition committee for the Masters.
The Associated Press reports that the 46-year-old, who won this tournament nine years ago, was given an official code of conduct warning.
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Garcia arrived at Augusta lacking confidence after a sluggish start to the LIV Golf season, and he made clear on Monday that he was not pleased with the state of his game.
“Not super happy at the moment, but we’re working. We’ll see what happens throughout the week. Yeah, at the moment I’m not feeling amazing,” he said.
He opened with a promising round of even par in tough conditions on Thursday, but he failed to make a move up the leaderboard in the second round, carding a 75. It was good enough to make the cut,
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Garcia is the second player to be reprimanded for code of conduct violations this week. Bob MacIntyre lost his cool in the midst of a disastrous seven-over-par opening round on Thursday, at one point flashing his middle finger in the direction of the 15th green after a quadruple bogey.
The Scotsman risked making the situation worse on Friday when he posted an AI-generated image depicting him as a Masters gnome with his middle finger raised on social media.
It later emerged that the two-time Ryder Cup winner was dealing with a neck injury that almost forced him to withdraw.
