GOLF took the spotlight globally last weekend—both for reasons weird and spectacular.
The weirdest was the behavior of Sergio Garcia on the golf course—bordering on the abominable.
While Garcia is known for his Spanish temper, sometimes uncalled for, his outburst on Saturday went from queer to bizarre.
Not once but twice did he vent his rage against the greens during third-round play of the just-ended Saudi International tournament in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia.
Literally almost, Garcia destroyed two greens in frustration over a game that had gone haywire.
Although he was able to finish his round, scoring a 71 to be at even par, he was 16 shots off coleaders Dustin Johnson of the US and Li Haotong of China.
Then came the hammer on Garcia’s head: He was disqualified and barred from playing the last round.
But I give credit to Garcia, the former Masters champion.
When he realized the horror of his misconduct, he apologized immediately—and profusely at that.
“In frustration, I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologize for,” Garcia said. “And I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again.”
Garcia’s misconduct somehow stained the tournament as the Saudi International is the newest European Tour leg, which was largely seen as a cosmetic to Saudi Arabia’s human-rights record following an international condemnation on the recent killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, with some of Saudi’s top-ranking officials being linked allegedly to the murder.
Johnson won the tournament in style, if not spectacularly, using his last two birdies on the final two holes of the fourth and final round to win by two strokes over the eagle-energized Li, Johnson’s coleader with 18 holes left to play.
Li’s four eagles in Round 3 was a record in the Open era of the sport and Johnson needed tons of courage to hold back the surging Chinese on Sunday’s dramatic finish.
“Any time you can win a professional tournament, no matter where it is in the world, it’s a big win,” said Johnson, who had five birdies for a final three-under-par 67 to Li’s 69. “Haotong was one ahead on the back nine, but I knew I was playing well enough to make up some strokes, and I didn’t let it bother me. I just played my game and kept on trying to make birdies.”
His birdies on 17 and 18 had clinched it, coming after Li succumbed to pressure with three bogeys pulling him down coming home.
But still, good enough that Li finished second behind Johnson, the No. 3 player in the world.
As for Garcia, who won the Masters on April 9, 2017, he will have a lot of repairing in mending his broken heart, if not his damaged reputation worldwide.
The least he could do in restoring his stature is pay for the repair of the damaged greens—and next do a janitorial job in a mosque in Saudi? For a week?
THAT’S IT Please say a little prayer for the speedy recovery of the still hospital-confined Ray Butch “Elvis” Gamboa, a mainstay of the rambunctious group called The Only Super Origs (TOSO), which will kill time and a bottle on Wednesday to celebrate the visit of the esteemed fellow of the man behind the nom de guerre LFS (Life From Singapore).