AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Sergio Garcia broke his driver on No. 2 at Augusta National after an outburst on the tee box Sunday and was issued a code-of-conduct warning, a first at the Masters.
The fiery Garcia then created a lighter moment on the same hole when he carried fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm's clubs for a bit.
The Garcia-Rahm group, which paired two countrymen and former champions both on LIV Golf, was always going to create some buzz, even with both out
of contention. Then, Garcia quickly brought the drama up another notch.
The 2017 Masters champ looked frustrated on his follow-through when his first shot of the day went well to the right, leading to an opening bogey. Garcia hit another drive headed to the bunker on the par-5 second and lost his temper.
He slammed his club into the turf twice, then took a swipe at a table with a green cooler on it. That left the head of his driver dangling from the shaft, and Garcia reached over and yanked it off completely.
According to club officials, Geoff Yang in his role as chairman of the competitions committee spoke to Garcia on the fourth tee and issued the code-of-conduct warning.
Garcia declined to discuss what was said, saying: “I'm not going to tell you.”
The PGA Tour has been developing a code-of-conduct policy for competition, and the Masters is the first to use it, according to a person involved in the process. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity out of respect to Augusta National running the tournament.
The PGA Championship also plans to use the policy, and likely the other two majors. The person said the second violation would be a two-shot penalty, and the third violation leads to disqualification.
“Just obviously not super proud of it,” Garcia said, “but sometimes it happens.”
Garcia was disqualified in 2019 at the Saudi International for damaging greens in frustration. His antics over the years include angrily kicking off his shoe when he slipped during a tee shot at the World Match Play in 2001, and the shoe nearly struck an official.
He also spit into a cup during a World Golf Championship at Doral after three-putting.
Garcia played the rest of the final round at Augusta National without a driver and appeared to have calmed down.
“It makes it very easy,” he said. “I just have to hit 3-wood all the time. I didn’t have to choose another club.”
Shortly after damaging the tee box on No. 2, the situation turned comical when Garcia started carrying Rahm's bag while Rahm's caddie was raking the bunker. The crowd applauded when Rahm took the bag from Garcia and started carrying it himself as Rahm's caddie Adam Hayes hustled to catch up to the players.
Garcia did manage to make par on No. 2 before bogeying the third and fourth holes. He wound up shooting 75.
“If you don’t hit good shots,” he said, “you’re not going to score well here. It’s very simple.”
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AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson and AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta contributed to this report.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
