Sergio Garcia received an official warning from Augusta National for causing damage to a tee box and breaking his driver during the final round of the Masters tournament. Throughout the week, Garcia appeared disheartened despite making the cut, failing to make a significant impact on the leaderboard. His frustration escalated when he hit a poor shot at the second hole on Sunday, leading him to aggressively slam his driver into the ground, resulting in damage to the club. Subsequently, he had to continue his round without a driver, reaching the 10th hole with a score of two over par for the day and seven over par for the tournament.
Viewers expressed displeasure over Garcia’s actions on the course, prompting calls for disciplinary action from Augusta National. Shortly after the incident, Geoff Yang, head of the competition committee for the Masters, approached Garcia to address the situation. The Associated Press reported that the former Masters champion, now 46 years old, was issued an official code of conduct warning.
Garcia’s performance at Augusta National reflected his lack of confidence following a slow start to the golf season. Expressing his discontent with his game, Garcia stated, “Not super happy at the moment, but we’re working. We’ll see what happens throughout the week. Yeah, at the moment I’m not feeling amazing.” Despite an initial even-par round on Thursday, Garcia struggled to climb the leaderboard in the subsequent round, finishing with a score of 75 but managing to make the cut.
In a separate incident, Bob MacIntyre was reprimanded for code of conduct violations during the tournament. MacIntyre displayed frustration during a challenging opening round, culminating in a gesture towards the 15th green. He further exacerbated the situation by sharing an image on social media depicting himself as a Masters gnome with a raised middle finger. It was later revealed that MacIntyre was contending with a neck injury that nearly forced him to withdraw from the competition.