Stop the excuses, Mcilroy warns troubled Garcia

Rory Mcilroy has warned Sergio Garcia not to use his nationality or problems away from the course to excuse purposefully damaging greens at the Saudi International this month.

Garcia faced the media on Wednesday, following a fortnight’s silence after being disqualified from the European Tour event for “serious misconduct”. He apologised – as he had already via a statement and then a social-media post – but also revealed that “emotional personal news” was partly responsible for his on-course meltdown.

The 39-year-old also referenced his fiery Spanish temperament, but Mcilroy, a close friend of Garcia, said: “It doesn’t matter where you’re from – it’s not acceptable. And if you’ve got stuff bothering you, let the course be your sanctuary. I’ve had to deal with that in the past.”

In 2014, Mcilroy went through a high-profile break-up with tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, but still managed to win the BMW PGA Championship a week after he called off the wedding.

The feeling within the locker room is that this must be Garcia’s last chance. The 2017 Masters champion has mired himself in controversy on several occasions. “We always think he gets over it, but there’s no doubt he’s out of line behaving like that,” Adam Scott, another close friend, said.

Here at the Genesis Open, Garcia is appearing in his first event since Saudi Arabia. But after 45 minutes of play, the persistent downpours caused a suspension. The PGA Tour later announced that, for the first time in six years, the scores would be reset on the restart.