Sergio Garcia was sent home in surprising fashion from the already-controversial Saudi International, as the Spanish superstar was disqualified for damaging a green in frustration.
Sergio Garcia is one of the most well-respected veterans in golf, reaching levels of excellence on both the PGA TOUR and European Tour that few have matched over two-plus decades as a pro. However, he’s still human, and he let his emotions get the better of him as he was uncharacteristically disqualified from this week’s Saudi International.
According to the European Tour, Garcia was disqualified for “serious misconduct” during his third round in Saudi Arabia. He officially signed for a 1-over round of 71 at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, but was accused by his fellow players of intentionally hitting clubs into the surface of the greens, damaging the course.
The European Tour looked into the accusations, and eventually disqualified Garcia for violating Rule 1.2a in the Rules of Golf. It’s not something that comes up often, but it’s the subsection that relates to player conduct on the course, and it’s one of the new adjustments that was instituted for 2019. Here’s the official verbiage, for reference:
"New Rule: Rule 1.2a consolidates the expected standards of player conduct:It declares that players are expected to play in the spirit of the game by acting with integrity, showing consideration to others and taking good care of the course.It unequivocally states the Committee’s authority to disqualify a player for any serious misconduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game.In place of the unclear previous concept of “breach of etiquette”, it uses the more direct and stronger phrases “misconduct” and “serious misconduct.”Rule 1.2b also gives the Committee authority to adopt its own Code of Conduct and to set penalties for its breach."
It’s a controversial exit from an already controversial event for Garcia, who was riding a streak of seven straight worldwide top-ten finishes coming into the Saudi International. Garcia, to his credit I suppose, took responsibility for his actions after the punishment was handed down.
“I respect the decision of my disqualification,” Garcia said. “In frustration, I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologize for, and I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again.”
That’s a reasonable statement from Garcia, but the interesting piece to this story has to do with just how many greens Sergio took his frustrations out on. According to The Scotsman, players in the groups immediately following Garcia stated that he left not just one, but as many as five greens in serious disrepair.
I’m willing to look past one transgression, but come on Sergio, five? That’s the type of stuff you might see a weekend duffer do at a local muni, but you’d still shake your head at him at a minimum, and probably let the groundskeeper know about if given the opportunity. Not exactly the look you want from a Masters champion early in the year.
Ironically, the leader through 54 holes at the Saudi International is none other than Haotong Li, who was also handed a tough penalty under a new rule at the Dubai Desert Classic.
I don’t expect this to continue at all for Sergio Garcia going forward, but still, it’s a bad look for an event that already had tons of negative publicity before any player had even set foot on the course. Here’s hoping that the first time a player gets the boot for poor conduct is the last time for a long time.