Rory’s dig at Sergio
McIlroy and Scott can’t accept Garcia defence of tantrum
Sometimes it needs a close friend to spell out the brutal truth, and Rory mcilroy did just that to sergio Garcia yesterday. if the spaniard thought his mea
culpa on Wednesday and obvious contrition for his scandalous behaviour in saudi Arabia was the end of the matter as far as his fellow pros were concerned, the Northern irishman, who attended Garcia’s wedding a couple of years ago, put him straight.
Asked whether Garcia’s Latin temperament, or his explanation he was bothered by an ‘emotional, personal matter,’ were mitigating factors in vandalising the greens, the straight- shooting mcilroy (below) responded: ‘it doesn’t matter where you’re from or if you’ve got personal issues going on, it was completely unacceptable. if you’ve got stuff bothering you, let the course be your sanctuary. We’ve all had to deal with personal issues at some point.’
mcilroy’s words underline the depth of feeling among Garcia’s peers that he didn’t so much cross a line as sprint over it, and their patience with his antics has evidently worn beyond thin.
Adam scott, another of Garcia’s close friends, was equally exasperated. ‘We always think he gets over it when he is out of line, and then he goes and does something else,’ said the Aussie.
‘He said he needs to understand his emotions and channel that in a better way. i’m not a psychologist but i think that’s a good thing for him.
‘ the game can get the better of us all at times. it gets the better of sergio more than most.’
on Wednesday, Garcia said that he was ashamed of himself and vowed to win back the trust of his peers, commenting: ‘i want to be the best behaved boy in the classroom.’
His other problem will be winning back the public. He has had plenty of run-ins with American fans over the years, and they’re likely to be unforgiving when it comes to taunting him over his ridiculous bunker tantrum in saudi that went viral on social media.
in 2009, at the Us open at Bethpage, the New Yorkers went for him in a big way. He was struggling with a habit of gripping and re-gripping the club and the locals weren’t exactly understanding, yelling: ‘Hit it, waggle boy.’
And where is the UsPGA being staged in may? Yep, Bethpage.
Garcia was due out at lunch time yesterday in the first round of the Genesis open but a series of ferocious rain showers washed out the morning play and rather made a mockery of that old song about it never raining in southern California.
the much-anticipated threesome of mcilroy, tiger Woods and Justin thomas were in the same boat. Play eventually began seven hours late, meaning the likes of Garcia and mcilroy will try to squeeze in two rounds today with the tournament facing a race against time to finish on sunday. leNGLANd’s Jodi ewart shadoff took advantage of ‘perfect conditions’ to take a share of the lead at the Women’s Australian open. ewart shadoff, 31, shot a bogey-free seven-underpar 65 at the Grange to set the early firstround pace with taiwan’s Hsu Weiling. ‘i worked a bit on my putts at the start of the week and that paid off,’ she said.