Nothing should surprise us about Sergio Garcia anymore.
We’ve seen his highs, lows and everything in between. An astonishing golfer, a fierce competitor, but prone to remarkably poor behaviour.
The Spaniard has written another chapter in a story of regrettable misdemeanours at a time of year when hundreds of golfers across Europe face an uncertain future.
Garcia told his followers in a statement on social media that he will play on the DP World Tour (DPWT) next year and will be “proud to call it home again”.
Four years ago, an unnamed golfer told The Telegraph this, when players such as Garcia were being sanctioned for joining LIV Golf and playing in conflicting events:
“The news (of the ban) came out during last week’s BMW International (in Munich). Sergio flew off the handle, shouting, ‘This Tour is s***, you’re all f*****, should have taken the Saudi money’. Bob MacIntyre was there and was disgusted.”
Also in 2022, Garcia said he couldn’t wait to leave the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed LIV after being penalised by a rules official at the Wells Fargo Championship.
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The former Masters champion added in his statement last week that he was keeping his options open for a return to the PGA Tour. Genuinely astonishing, isn’t it?
This latest discrepancy hits home far more than his other hysterical episodes because we are in cut-throat season, otherwise known as Q-School.
Whoever clicked send on this statement did so on October 29, the first day of the second stage of DP World Tour Q-School and the first day of the Hotel Planner Tour finale, when players fight tooth and nail to live their dream and play on Europe’s No.1 circuit. This week, the six-day slog that is the final stage of Q-School begins.
At the BMW PGA Championship in 2022, Garcia withdrew after 18 holes and was fined for not explaining why. His fellow Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia was first reserve.
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Last week, Garcia-Heredia played at Golf Las Pinaillas in the second stage of Q-School and retired after three rounds. Garcia isn’t to blame for this specific instance, but things have knock-on effects, and I couldn’t help but mention the contrast.
His statement read as tone-deaf, completely insensitive and poorly timed, given he is about to saunter back to a tour from which he climbed away and pulled the ladder, cursing all the while.
Another chapter in Sergio Garcia’s questionable behaviour record
Some fans want LIV rebels to be forced to take the same Q-School route. To be fair, some did. But also, no one gave Garcia his career or his Green Jacket on a plate. He earned it and, therefore, has category 11 status (career money).
But this is all the more delicate now as DPWT boss Guy Kinnings faces an impossibly awkward scenario that concerns the playing opportunities of the tour’s members.
LIV Golf has gone bankrupt and most of the players appear to be jumping ship in the DPWT’s direction.
Over a million people have seen Garcia’s statement now, and presumably one of them is Kinnings. Like many of us, he might have winced. He already has the difficult task of pleasing his membership without worrying about a polarising presence turning up at tournaments in 2027.
The tour could invite LIV Golfers with profile to a circuit that is financially vulnerable to boost as much interest as possible. But this might betray loyal players who didn’t take lucrative offers to join LIV. That is the situation, put simply.
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It will probably be jarring for some DPWT players grinding away on the range next year, then peering over their shoulders at Garcia skulking around behind a pair of sunglasses, who was once alleged to say they were all f*****. Maybe some of this week’s Q-School competitors read his statement with a sigh too.
The LIV saga brought some of these instances about, but Garcia’s behaviour has been questionable at best in many parts of his career.
Spitting in holes, disqualification for his conduct, countless tantrums. I’m bored of writing about them, and golf scribes years more experienced than me must be sick to death.
His behaviour reached an umpteenth nadir in that week at Wentworth four years ago. Following the Queen’s death, the event was reduced to 54 holes. After round one, Garcia withdrew with no official explanation. Later that weekend, he was pictured at a college football game in Texas.
Again, this is Sergio.
But at the time of year when hundreds of golfers do not know what 2027 will look like, this was not the right time for Garcia to excitedly promise “a big year ahead”.
“The most exciting part for me is strengthening personal relationships, both old and new.”
I wouldn’t bank on it, amigo.
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