After Sergio Garcia’s shock blow at the Masters, he had to answer

AUGUSTA, Ga. — This place, you may have heard, has many rules. There are no phones. There is no running. No curling up under the attractive shade of loblolly and sneaking off to a quick sleep. And, oh yes, there are definitely no boxes of tea banging with your butcher’s cruel chauffeur tenderizing a side of beef.

Alas, that was the scene of Augusta National’s second tee on Sunday morning after 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia’s drive began to track toward the par-5’s cavernous fairway bunker. This wasn’t Garcia’s first incident of anger but given the size and beauty of the stage – and the momentum with which he said it was steamrolled – the fall may live forever as his worst reputation.

If you’re a golf fan and have been anywhere near social media today, you’ve seen the clip. As Garcia’s ball begins to roll back toward the right of the fairway, he takes off his swing and takes a powerful backhand stroke into the fairway, creating a meaty divot in the tee box. That was quickly followed by Garcia’s second swing, although this time he kept the soil under him. Shane Bacon, the A+ speaker who calls the action for Masters.com, is speechless. He only gives a sigh.

Garcia wasn’t done yet. Moments later, the 46-year-old Spaniard hurt himself again and hammered his Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond into the right fairway, leaving the driver’s head hanging from the shaft like a fish on a stick. Garcia covered his head with his right hand and finished the job. Time of death: around 9:45 am local time.

Garcia was finally cool enough to save the hole but then bogeyed the 3rd and 4th. After turning 2 over, he made two more bogies and a birdie on the inward nine to post a 3-over 75 that left him 8 over for the tournament. Garcia may have bolted in the parking lot. He didn’t. He answered questions from the Spanish-speaking media for more than 4 minutes before giving the English-speaking media a few more minutes.

Of his anger, Garcia said he’s “not proud of it, but sometimes it happens.” He said it was the result of boredom that had been going on all year. On the LIV Golf Tour, Garcia has five top-10 finishes in 2026 and his Fireballs are ranked 8th among 13 LIV teams. Augusta National is a course he has fond memories of, but he has also played well here for years. This week is Garcia’s second weekend appearance at the Masters in his last eight appearances. He opened 72-75 to pull one back before closing 74-75.

Augusta National was not impressed with Garcia’s behavior. On the 4th hole, Geoff Yang, Augusta National’s new chairman of the competition committee, had a word with Garcia and gave him a moral warning.

What did Yang say? “I won’t tell you,” said Garcia.

Garcia spoke to another strange thing that unfolded in the 2nd hole. After Garcia played his second shot into the bunker, Adam Hayes, who was playing with Garcia’s Sunday partner, Jon Rahm, took over the duties of Garcia’s caddy, Benji Thompson. To return the favor, Thompson picked up both Garcia and Rahm’s bags, leading to Garcia helping his guy — and a rare photo of the former Masters champion walking wild with a travel bag slung over his shoulder. “I told him, ‘Just put it down,'” Garcia said. “‘I’ll get it so you can go get the yard.’ It’s as simple as that.”

Rahm, who captured his Masters with a 68 but opened with rounds of 78-70-73, was asked what it was like playing alongside Garcia. “Obviously he wasn’t changing it the way he wanted,” Rahm said. “It wasn’t an easy day for him so I don’t have much to say. Talking to him when I can and lifting his spirits a little bit. But I felt like I was where he was today a few days ago so I can’t say much.”

The reporters had a lot of questions about Garcia, but he was talking like a Carthusian monk. When asked about his poor record at Augusta National since winning in 2017, Garcia only offered, “Bad golf.”

Could he be more specific?

“Bad guns,” he said.

Like, More directly?

“Well, if you don’t hit well, you won’t hit well here,” he said. “It’s very easy.”

When the brave Inquisitor circled back to Garcia’s interaction with Yang in the 4th conversation, Garcia didn’t bite.

“The next question, please.”

But there were no more questions.