Turns out Scottie Scheffler wasn’t the only former Masters Champion taking in the Alabama-Texas college football game Saturday.
While Scheffler was surprised on the set of ESPN’s College GameDay pregame show with his PGA Tour Player of the Year award, Sergio Garcia and his wife Angela Atkins were later seen during the FOX broadcast of the game chatting with Scheffler and his wife Meredith on the sideline.
This is typically the time of year we start to see pros popping up on college football sidelines, especially as we’re in the middle of the PGA Tour’s “offseason.”
Only Garcia was playing at the BMW PGA Championship in England about 48 hours ago.
Play was suspended at the DP World Tour’s flagship event Thursday afternoon in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Play was also suspended for all of Friday before resuming Saturday and the event being shortened to 54 holes.
Garcia, one of several LIV Golf pros controversially in the field for this weeks event, withdrew following an opening round 76 at Wentworth and did not give a reason. He threatened to resign his membership from the DP World Tour over the summer after joining LIV Golf, before ultimately choosing to maintain membership.
Golfers committed to the upstart, Saudi-backed LIV Golf are able to play on the DP World Tour while an appeal on the suspensions handed down by CEO Keith Pelley works its way through the UK court system.
Most, except perhaps Ian Poulter, have kept a relatively low profile on the tour, but 18 were originally entered in the field this week at Wentworth.
Garcia may not be an alumnus of the University of Texas as Scheffler is, but he does still have connections to the Longhorns. Garcia owns a home in Austin with his wife, Angela Atkins, who played golf at UT for two seasons and is the daughter of former Longhorns quarterback Marty Atkins.
Given how controversial Garcia’s appearance at Wentworth was in the first place, it’s interesting to note how quickly plans for his GameDay appearance came together when play was suspended Thursday afternoon.