Goodness knows what was going through Garcia’s head. He was near the bottom of the leaderboard and had little chance of achieving even a backdoor top-20. How embarrassing for a veteran, with his wife and two young children looking on. He needs to grow up.
Standing alongside waiting for his turn on the par-five second, Jon Rahm looked awkward. As well he might. He knows his countryman’s history of tantrums and will appreciate how inappropriate this pathetic behaviour is at one the sport’s most revered venues.
Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre was subject to such a rebuke on the first day after he put up his middle finger in the direction of the water guarding the 15th green and cursed his way to an 80. Poor conduct is becoming increasingly fashionable on the sedate fairways, although Garcia has been a miscreant for decades.
On his charge sheet there are incidents of kicking a shoe at a referee, spitting in the hole and damaging greens with his putter. As he was about to join LIV in 2022, he stood in a locker room and swore at his then European Tour colleagues. The old driver snap has become one of his specialities. Indeed, in the most recent major before this – the Open at Royal Portrush last year – Garcia’s drive head came off the shaft after, in another temper fit, he bashed it into ground. Two majors, two attacks on terra firma.
Garcia has been fined by the Tours on several occasions, but as the top points scorer in Ryder Cup history he remains a popular figure, especially in his home continent. However, he is currently ineligible to play any role in Team Europe because he is no longer a member of the DP World Tour.
Maybe that lingering sense of injustice accounts for his bad mood. He has been grumpy all week, bemoaning his form. Garcia, the 2017 Masters winner, has recorded just one top-10 finish in five starts on LIV in 2026 and he cut a dejected figure in the build-up. “Not super happy at the moment, but we’re working, and we’ll see,” he said. “We’ll see what happens throughout the week. Yeah, at the moment I’m not feeling amazing.”
Neither were the green staff who repaired the mess he made on the second tee box. Garcia deigned to speak after signing for a 74 that left him on five-over and down among the dead men. But he was typically chippy and offered no apology, as you can see from the transcript.
Q. Obviously you were frustrated early in your round. Had that been building through the week? What happened?
A. Through the year. Yeah. Just obviously not super proud of it, but sometimes it happens.
Q. What did they tell you on the fourth hole?
A. I’m not going to tell you.
Q. How much more difficult does it make it strategy-wise with you not being able to use a driver?
A. It makes it very easy. I just have to hit 3-wood all the time. I didn’t have to choose another club.
Q. Your record here since you won is surprising to a lot of us. Is there a theme there or one reason for it? How do you explain that?
A. Bad golf.
Q. Is there something specific here that has happened...
A. Bad shots.
Q. But you can do that anywhere, but you win here and we would think you know how to play this golf course, so there must be more to it.
A. Well, if you don’t hit good shots, you’re not going to score well here. It’s very simple.
Q. You’ve just coincidentally hit bad shots here, a lot since you’ve won. Is it as simple as that?
A. Yeah, unfortunately a lot of bad shots.
Q. Did they give you a warning or something on the fourth ...
A. Next question, please.
There were no more questions, and with that, he was gone. Next stop Mexico for the LIV event that starts later this week and where he will once again be feted as a superstar and a hero. That is professional golf nowadays. And it stinks.
– Daily Telegraph UK
