AUGUSTA — Sergio Garcia had at times a testy exchange with reporters following his opening round of the Masters on Thursday.
Garcia, who shot a 2-over 74, took exception when he believed he was being asked about the current relationships between PGA Tour and LIV Golf players. It has been a storyline this week with the Masters being the first time players from both tours have played in the same event since last year’s British Open. There remain pending lawsuits in the contentious battle between the tours.
Garcia also said he was unaware of a ruling of an independent tribunal that the European tour could sanction members of Saudi-based LIV Golf on Thursday. An appeal panel at Sports Resolutions found that players, including Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, committed “serious breaches” of the European Tour code by playing in LIV Golf events last year despite requests to be released having been refused. The ruling allows the European tour to impose fines of $125,000. News of the pending decision was first reported Tuesday.
Garcia, a former Masters champion, was 2 under after nine holes before four bogeys on the backside.
Here is the complete Q&A from the post-round interview.
Q. Talk about the day if you would.
A. I don’t know. Obviously started nicely, but I don’t know, I hit some good tee shots on the front nine. I hit a couple not so great iron shots. I hit a couple really good iron shots.
I don’t know. Battling mentally a little bit. I was trying everything I could to do the best I could, and unfortunately the wheels started coming off a bit on the back nine.
Q. How normal did it feel coming back here and playing and concentrating on your game?
A. Totally normal. You guys need to stop it. You guys are making a big deal out of this, and it’s you guys.
Q. No, it’s not.
A. Yes, it is. I’ve had nothing but great things from every single player I talk to. So please stop it and talk about the Masters.
Q. I think actually, in defense, I think actually I was thinking you haven’t had as many reps as sometimes you normally would. How did you feel coming in and playing this golf course because of that?
A. I don’t think you meant that, but I did play – I played one, two, three, four – I played five tournaments coming in here. So it’s pretty good. There’s been times where I probably maybe haven’t played that much coming into here.
But it’s usually around that, four, five, six tournaments. But that wasn’t the problem.
Q. Are you aware the decision that came down today in the UK about --
A. I’m not.
Q. You’re not?
A. OK.
Q. Does that mean you wouldn’t talk about it if we told you what happened?
A. How can I talk about something I don’t know? Obviously I don’t look at the news. So I don’t know what happened. I’m not going to talk about something without all the information that I need. I don’t want to get into --
Q. Are you interested in playing on any event in the European Tour going forward?
A. We’ll see. We’ll see how the year goes.
Q. Maybe speak to you about it tomorrow once you’ve had a chance to catch up on it.
A. We’ll see. I probably won’t catch up on it.
Q. Better to ignore it? Best way to deal with it?
A. Yeah.
