It’s disaster at the double as Garcia fluffs fifth

SERGIO GARCIA needed three attempts to get out of two bunkers as he ended up carding a dismal double bogey at the easy fifth hole.

The Spaniard looked to have cut the gettable par five down to size with a booming drive which left him just a seven iron for his second shot.

However, his approach was tugged a fraction and dribbled into the first of three bunkers which guard the left side of the green.

And that was when the trouble started.

Given Garcia’s magical short game he would still have been thinking chip and a putt for a birdie — but instead walked off with a round-wrecking seven.

His first bunker shot reached the top of a mound before trickling back to the sand trap next to him.

Take two saw a carbon copy, with the ball reaching the green — just — before rolling back once again into the sand.

‘He can light up a cigar I think,’ joked Sky commentator Andrew Coltart, who hoped

the Ryder Cup star and LIV defector would keep his cool.

‘He can get quite animated in bunkers,’ added Coltart, doubtless referring to a famous meltdown Garcia had in a bunker at the Saudi International in 2019 where he violently took chunks out of the hazard after duffing his escape.

However, it was third time lucky this time as a stonyfaced Garcia opted for muscle over finesse, smashing his last bunker shot well past the flag, before two putting.

Garcia had been two under par for his round at the time and in the thick of the battle, but eventually finished with a level par 72 and a tie of 48th spot, 13 shots adrift of the leaders.

It was a major setback for the former Masters champion who can’t seem to keep out of the headlines at the moment, and for all the wrong reasons.

He drew criticism from players and fans in May with a petulant rant at the Wells Fargo Championship aimed at the PGA Tour which heralded his decision to switch to Greg Norman’s Saudi-backed LIV series.

And he lost his rag completely after being banned from last week’s Scottish Open and fined by the DP World Tour for his participation in the new multi-million pound league, with a tirade against the authorities in front of shocked players.

‘Sergio’s reputation had taken quite a hammering anyway before this, but this has sealed it for many of us,’ one European player said at the time.

‘This is his home tour and he shouldn’t forget that.’

The 42-year-old and other LIV rebels are threatening to sue the DP World Tour after being banned.