The Mercury

Grow up, Koepka tells Sergio ...

-

THREE-TIME major champion Brooks Koepka has publicly rebuked Sergio Garcia for a temper tantrum at the European Tour’s Saudi Internatio­nal on Saturday, and says it is time for the Spaniard to “grow up”.

Garcia was disqualifi­ed from the event after the third round for what the tour deemed “serious misconduct”.

“I respect the decision of my disqualifi­cation. In frustratio­n, I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologise, and I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again,” Garcia said.

In addition, video surfaced on social media of Garcia slamming his club into the sand three times after a mediocre bunker shot, and angrily speaking in Spanish.

“That’s just Sergio acting like a child,” Koepka said in interview with the Playing Through podcast on Tuesday.

“It’s unfortunat­e that he’s got to do that and complain. Everybody’s got to play the same golf course. I didn’t play very good, but you didn’t really see anybody else doing that.

“I mean, you’re 40 years old, so you’ve got to grow up eventually.” Garcia is 39.

Koepka finished equal 57th in the inaugural event won by fellow American Dustin Johnson.

The tournament, at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, attracted a star-studded field – including four of the world’s five top-ranked players – by paying out large appearance fees.

| Reuters (ANA)

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from South Africa