Sergio Garcia will tee up at this week’s Genesis Open in his first start on the PGA TOUR, and his first since being disqualified for ‘serious misconduct’ at the Saudi International Open.
The temperamental Spaniard escaped further punishment for breaching new Rule 1.2a – which deals with failing to play or act in the spirit of the game – during the inaugural event at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.
During the third round the 39-year-old reportedly damaged as many as six greens, which left players behind him in the field angry as they lodged official complaints.
‘The incident is over,’ said European Tour CEO Keith Pelley. ‘We have dealt with it. Sergio has apologised to the players and we move on.’
Shortly after Pelley’s statement, social media was lit up with a video of Garcia taking his second-round frustrations out on a bunker.
Sergio the day before he wrecked a few greens. Not happy. pic.twitter.com/2Io84ZJscg
— Wade Pretorius (@wadepretorius) February 4, 2019
Garcia’s statement on the issue:
‘Happy to be in my first PGA Tour event of the season and have my brother on the bag again this year.
‘I’ve obviously had some time to reflect, and want to again say I’m sorry to my fans and fellow competitors. What happened is not an example I want to set, and it’s not who I truly am. I am an emotional player, and while I believe that’s one of my biggest strengths, it’s also one of my biggest flaws.
‘I’m focused on working hard to channel that emotion the correct way and to be the best me, learn from it and move forward. Thanks for all the support.’
Garcia is coming off the worst season of his PGA Tour career, failing to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time in the post-season’s existence. However, he played an integral part for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup, scoring three points in Europe’s blowout win over the Americans to become the all-time points leader in European history.
