A week after a controversial disqualification in Saudi Arabia, Sergio Garcia apologized for his actions in an Instagram post on Monday. Garcia was DQ’d from the Saudi International after he intentionally damaged several greens during Saturday’s round.
The 39-year-old, who returns to competitive action this week at the Genesis Open, offered a general explanation for his actions, though he didn’t get into specifics. He cited his emotional nature, which he said was one of his biggest strengths — but also one of his biggest flaws.
“Happy to be in my first @pgatour event of the season and have my brother on the bag again this year,” he wrote. “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.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtyvFJSHOZy/
Last Saturday morning, a day after Garcia had a bunker meltdown, word started coming out of the Saudi International that Garcia had been disqualified for “serious misconduct.” After posting a score of one-over 71, Garcia was informed of his DQ. Early reports suggested that the misconduct involved intentionally damaging the greens, both with his spikes and with his putter.
Apparently, Sergio Garcia damaged FIVE greens and the players in next four groups all complained to officials @SaudiIntlGolf @RoyalGreens_KSA @ScotsmanSport @edinburghsport
— Martin Dempster (@DempsterMartin) February 2, 2019
Because Garcia had teed off so early, SkySports cameras weren’t out to capture the behavior (though that claim didn’t do much to stop some conspiracy theorists), but Scotsman reporter Martin Dempster, who was on the beat all week, provided further detail. Garcia had allegedly damaged five greens, which had come to officials’ attention when players in subsequent pairings began to complain.
Garcia accepted the DQ and released a statement through the European Tour. “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,” he said at the time.
Garcia tees off Thursday at the Genesis Open along Keegan Bradley and Sangmoon Bae at 12:11 p.m.
