Garcia apologizes at Masters

Sergio Garcia apologized on April 14 after a final-round outburst at the Masters left him with a warning from Augusta National officials. (espn.com) Garcia said he “regret[s] the way I acted” after his tee shot on the par-5 second hole on Sunday, April 12, found a bunker and he took two swipes at the turf before breaking his driver. (abcnews.com) Geoff Yang, chairman of the Masters competitions committee, spoke to Garcia on the fourth tee and issued a code-of-conduct warning. Garcia then had to finish the round without replacing the damaged driver in his bag. (espn.com) The warning carried extra weight because the Masters introduced that conduct policy this year. Under the policy, a second violation in the same tournament brings a two-shot penalty, and a third means disqualification. (abcnews.com) Garcia’s apology came after television footage and post-tournament reaction kept the incident alive beyond Sunday’s round at Augusta National. He wrote that his behavior “has no place in our game” and said it did not reflect his respect for the Masters, its patrons, officials and fans. (golfdigest.com) The episode also landed in the middle of a long slump at majors for Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion. He finished 52nd among the 54 players who made the cut this year, and he has not posted a top-10 finish in the 29 majors he has played since winning at Augusta in 2017. (abcnews.com) His frustration on Sunday was not an isolated case. Garcia was disqualified at the 2019 Saudi International for damaging greens in anger, and he also broke a driver during the final round of the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. (espn.com) After the round, Garcia initially declined to explain what Yang told him and stopped short of a full apology. Two days later, he made the apology public, closing the week with a statement instead of another answer of “next question.” (abcnews.com)