'Not super proud of it' - Sergio Garcia on Masters meltdown in final round

Playing in the same group as compatriot Jon Rahm, a fellow winner at Augusta National, Garcia had his Masters meltdown on the second tee, where he arrived a bit hot under the collar after missing a short par putt at the opening hole.

Unhappy with his tee shot at the first of the par 5s at the Georgia venue as it ended up in a bunker, Garcia initially took a couple of swipes at the turf in a show of disgust and took some lumps out of it. The 2017 winner then walked across to the right side of the tee and took his frustration out on a water cooler, snapping the head of his driver in the process.

With every single shot in this event being covered by TV cameras all over the place, the incident quickly went viral, as had been the case when MacIntyre made a one-fingered gesture at the 15th hole in the opening round after finding the water there with his second shot.

By the time Garcia arrived on the fourth tee, Geoff Yang, the chairman of the Masters competition committee, was waiting for him and, during a chat, gave him a code of conduct warning.

‘I’m not going to tell you’

It later emerged that this new conduct policy is being implemented at two of the majors this year - the PGA Championship at Aronimink next month is the other one - with a second violation leading to a two-shot penalty and the punishment for a third breach being disqualification.

“Just obviously not super proud of it, but sometimes it happens,” admitted Garcia afterwards. Asked if he had been given a warning on the fourth, he replied: “I’m not going to tell you”. Probed again in a flash zone interview, he said: “Next question, please.”

It’s not the first time in Garcia’s career, of course, that he has blown up in an event. He was disqualified from the 2019 Saudi International after taking chunks out of a green with his putter at Royal Greens, where he had also lashed out angrily in a bunker the previous day.

“I’m sorry to my fans and fellow competitors,” wrote Garcia in an apology for that behaviour. “What happened is not an example I want to set, and it’s not who I truly am.”

More recently, though, the 46-year-old slammed his driver into the ground in frustration on the second hole in the final round of last year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush and broke it in half.

Meanwhile, MacIntyre maintained his radio silence over the weekend after declining to speak to reporters two days running following behaviour that was also deemed to be unacceptable by the Green Jackets.

The Oban man was heard saying “Jesus f***” at one point in the opening round before slamming a club into the turf at the 14th then making his one-fingered gesture at the 15th.

MacIntyre, who had been spoken to by an official at the end of the round, then compounded matters when he shared an AI generated image of a Masters-inspired gnome replicating his gesture from the previous day after missing the cut.

The Scotsman tried to get the world No 8 to speak over the weekend, but, clearly feeling he needs time to clear his head after suffering the disappointment of missing the cut for the second year running after feeling he had a genuine chance to land a first major win, he politely declined the request.