Garcia breaks silence about meltdown in Saudi Arabia
LOS ANGELES — Sergio Garcia apologized in a statement and in person to the players in his group Saudi International. He apologized in
That has been the easy part. He the years.
Garcia said the challenge now is to make sure it does not happen again, knowing that the scrutiny of
“I’m sure I’m going to hear it throughout the year,” Garcia said early in the third round.
“My job is to make sure I deal with it the best way possible, and show them and I can be who I am in the right way,” he said. “I want to face my mistakes head on. My job is to go out there and that no matter what, I can be the best hope I can maintain their respect.”
since he lost his head early in the third round at the Saudi International, which he attributed to a personal issue that put him in a bad frame of mind at the start of the week and greens at Royal Greens in Saudi Arabia that were new, grainy and slow.
He did not disclose the personal matter and said it was no excuse, and that he knew immediately he had done wrong.
“It hit me like on the 10th hole. I started thinking: ‘What am I doing? Get your head back on top of your shoulders,’” Garcia said. “I know I lost it.”
The 39-year-old Spaniard has put his emotions on full display since he turned pro in 1999 at age 19, challenged Tiger Woods in the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah and played
There was great passion when he years, whether it was kicking a shoe that or accusing Woods of disturbing the gallery at the TPC Sawgrass, a rift that ended with Garcia making a racially
Damaging greens in the middle of a round, which affected the players by surprise.
but there’s no doubt he’s out of line one of his closest friends in golf. “He said he needs to understand his emotions and channel that in a better way. I’m not a psychologist and don’t know how to do that, but I think it’s a good thing for him. The game can get the better of us at times. It seems to get the better of him more than some others.”
Garcia’s disqualification — the straight top 10s worldwide, which began when he was picked for the for the week at Le Golf National.
His game was in good shape. Now he has a reputation to mend.
“I feel terrible about it,” Garcia said. player. That emotion is probably my biggest strength, but it’s also one of
“If I channel it the right way, it’s amazing. I think that’s why people follow me the way they do. If I channel it the wrong way, it’s too extreme. My goal is make sure the bad gets better and the good stays.”
Rory McIlroy, another of his close friends, says being Spanish and full of emotion was “no excuse” for what Garcia did in Saudi Arabia.