Sergio Garcia defends concession to Rickie Fowler in match play, would repeat it at Ryder Cup

Sergio Garcia, who earned the respect of many when he unexpectedly conceded a long putt to Rickie Fowler during last week’s match play, said he would do it again under even more competitive conditions.

“I don’t care if some people think it was wrong, or right,” Garcia, who lost to Fowler, 1-up, in the third round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, told reporters Tuesday ahead of the Honda Classic. “For me, it was the right thing to do. If not, I would have been thinking about it throughout the whole match, and probably throughout the whole week.”

Up two through six over Fowler on Friday, Garcia surprised his opponent and everyone watching when he conceded a 17-foot par putt to halve the hole, with his own ball some seven feet from par on the seventh green. His actions were hailed as courteous by some, called gamesmanship by others, and blasted by still others who believed Garcia’s move made a mockery of the event.

He went on to lose the match on the 18th hole but Garcia reiterated on Tuesday what he said in Tucson after his match with Fowler, when he explained that he made the good-good decision after spending a long while taking a drop from a hive of bees on No. 6.

“I feel like I took too much time ... it’s as simple as that,” said Garcia, who has not always been a model of decorum on the course (Exhibit A: that gob of spittle in the 13th cup at Doral in 2007).

The 34-year-old Spaniard formerly known as El Nino, who has acknowledged his “fried chicken” spat with Tiger Woods last year took a heavy toll on him, may be maturing before our eyes.

“This is the way my dad taught me to play the game of golf,” he said during his concession speech on Tuesday. “Winning is important, but playing the game the right way, it’s even more important for me. At the end of the day, we all have a great opportunity to be role models to ... a lot of kids ... and you should be like that every time you have a chance.

To Garcia, the immediate circumstance dictated his judgment but he was certain he would not hesitate to make the same call in a team event like the Ryder Cup.

“It depends on the situation. If I would have felt like it was the right thing to do, if I would have felt like I went out of my way [and] took too much time or something, yeah, I probably would have done it [then], too,” he said. “You shouldn’t change because it’s the Accenture Match Play or the Ryder Cup.

“I think, at the end of the day, we all have a great opportunity to be role models,” Garcia added. “You should be like that every time you have the chance.”