Latest calls for a Garcia ban will go unheard again
Calls for Sergio Garcia to be banned from golf after his latest petulant outburst will fall on deaf ears. It’s always that way when the Spaniard acts like a spoiled 5-year-old.
Add gouging up a tee during the final round Sunday of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational to previous misdemeanors as long as his arm. The 2017 Masters winner hit a poor drive on the 16th hole at TPC Southwind, grabbed his driver with both hands and smashed it into the turf, taking a huge divot.
Cue howls of protest. The Daily Telegraph quoted an anonymous player who said, “We are starting to wonder what Sergio has to do to get a couple of involuntarily weeks off.”
Truth is, he can do almost anything he wants and not get a two-week ban. No way the European or PGA Tours are going to take serious action, especially the European Tour. The Euro circuit won’t want to alienate one of its biggest stars.
He’ll probably face some sort of fine, but we won’t hear about it. The Tours don’t do bad news. Besides, the sum will be derisory to a multimillionaire like Garcia.
The 15-time European Tour winner promised earlier this year he was a changed man. Remember? He damaged the greens in the third round of the Saudi International to the extent players in the groups behind complained. His actions came a day after he’d angrily slammed a club in a bunker.
To the European Tour’s credit, Garcia was disqualified from playing the final round. He was probably happy to get out of Saudi Arabia a day early considering his utter dislike for the golf course, despite receiving a large appearance fee.
Does anyone think he repaid that appearance fee? Thought not.
The Spaniard apologized for his actions then. In a statement, he said: “In frustration, I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologize for, and I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again.”
We didn’t believe him then, and we won’t believe him when he utters yet another serious racket violation apology.
Garcia’s rap sheet includes throwing a shoe in anger on Wentworth Golf Club’s 16th tee during his debut in the 1999 World Match Play Championship. Eight years later he committed a serious, distasteful breach of etiquette by spitting into Doral’s 13th hole after missing a short putt during the 2007 WGC-CA Championship.
Two weeks ago, Garcia threw his driver at his caddie, brother Victor, during the British Open.
You’d have thought the birth of first child Azalea last year would have tempered his frustrations. Appears not.
Maybe Sergio needs to adopt Walter Hagen’s “be sure to smell the flowers along the way” approach rather than chopping their heads off in anger every time he loses the head.