Sergio Garcia had a frustrating final round at Augusta National, resulting in several attention-grabbing moments for the former Masters winner.
On the par-5 second hole, Garcia’s emotions got the best of him as he began hitting the tee box and a water cooler in his vicinity with his golf club. Ultimately, the moment of frustration caused the club’s head to snap off, creating a highlight clip that quickly went viral online.
That wasn’t all for the 2017 Green Jacket winner, as he also picked up golfer Jon Rahm’s bag while Rahm’s caddy was raking a bunker. Garcia carried the bag down the fairway in a bizarre moment during his third round.
His rage at the tee box and water cooler rendered his driver useless for the rest of his final round on Sunday, and he instead used a 3-wood. Along with that, he received a code-of-conduct warning from the chairman of the rules and competition committee for The Masters.
In his first three rounds at The Masters, Garcia had 72, 75, and 74. His finale, featuring that frustrated outburst, also included him bogeying the 1st, 3rd, and 4th holes. When his final round had concluded, Garcia’s score was a 75, and he was 52nd on the leaderboard.
After a disappointing effort over the past four days and his surprising antics, he spoke to reporters, with some trying to ask about what went wrong.
A video clip from his media time showed Garcia “faced up to the media,” though he shut down several questions during the session.
When a reporter asked if his frustration “earlier in the round” had been building up all week, Garcia said, “Through the year.”
“Obviously not super proud of it, but sometimes it happens,” he said, regarding the broken driver.
Garcia explained the carrying of Rahm’s bag as “nothing,” indicating someone stopped to rake his bunker. Garcia said his caddy was carrying both bags, so he told him to leave Rahm’s, and he would get it. He wanted his caddy to go ahead and get yardage for the next hole.
When asked what they told him on the fourth hole, Garcia replied, “I’m not gonna tell you.”
Garcia also seemed to shoot down the notion that today’s frustration was a “culmination” of other things, but he said “it’s fine” and “just gotta deal with it.”
He also received a question asking what he felt was the “theme” or reason for his poor performances at Augusta National ever since he won it in 2017. Garcia summed it up as “bad golf” and his hitting “bad shots” and deflected the idea that it was something about the course or a mental aspect.
“If you don’t hit good shots, you’re not gonna score while here. It’s very simple,” he responded.
Asked about getting a warning on the fourth hole, Garcia quickly said, “Next question, please.”
It was clearly a bad day on the course for Garcia, but it’s hard to ignore his lack of success at AGNC since 2017. He missed the cut in the next two tournaments and then withdrew in 2020 due to COVID-19. His best finish since arriving in 2021 was a tie for 46th, and he missed the cut the next three years.
One might call making the cut an improvement, but based on Garcia’s frustrated post-round interview, he knows he’s capable of much better golf and behavior.