Sergio Garcia expected TPC Sawgrass fans to cheer for his popular Players Championship rival, Rickie Fowler, during their playoff with little-known Kevin Kisner. And the 2008 Players champion has weathered his fair share of razzing -- like the cheers that greeted his double dunk at the par-3 17th after his earlier run-in with Tiger Woods at TPC Sawgrass in 2013.
Sergio Garcia plays through merciless taunting, rips hecklers at The Players
Sergio Garcia endures heckling as he falls short at The Players Championship.
But even though the heckling aimed at the 35-year-old Spaniard was louder and nastier than any of the good-natured taunting fans dish out on the notoriously boisterous 16th hole at the Phoenix Open, Garcia played down the fan misbehavior during Fowler’s dramatic overtime win.
“It was great for the most part,” Garcia said about the badgering that started well before the three-hole aggregate playoff. “Obviously, some guys there that don’t deserve to be here watching golf, but that’s what it is.”
What it was was hassling that began after Garcia made his way to the back nine on Sunday and took an especially ugly turn during the three-man playoff when some of the spectators chanted “U.S.A.” as he approached the 17th green.
"Go in the water!!!" a fan yells after Sergio hits his putt.
— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) May 10, 2015 “It was probably about three or four times on every hole since the 10th hole,” Garcia, who backed away from his tee shot on 17 in regulation and shook his head, said about the unsportsmanlike conduct.
After hitting that shot into the 17th, Garcia bombed in what NBC’s Johnny Miller called the “putt of his career” and had a wonderfully smooth look back at all coliseum-style crowd surrounding that island hole.
“I wouldn’t say that [they caused me to miss the ball], no. They shouted at the wrong time on top of the ball, so I was able to back away,” Garcia said. “When I get in contention, no [it wasn’t any more than usual].”
The insensitivity was not confined to those in the gallery. Garcia appeared to be watching NBC’s coverage of the end of regulation when Dan Hicks imitated his Spanish accent and Johnny Miller -- who was aggressively rooting for Fowler -- suggested that Garcia could use a “siesta.”
(The tour may want to take note that this is the second such incident in two weeks involving real and/or perceived insensitivity by Americans toward Spanish-speaking players. A fracas that erupted between Keegan Bradley and Miguel Angel Jimenez over a ruling at the Match Play event was inflamed when Bradley’s caddie allegedly mocked Jimenez’ accent -- a charge Bradley later vehemently denied.)
Martin Inglis of Bunkered noted that others on the course -- including defending champion Martin Kaymer's caddie -- were unhappy with what transpired late into Sunday’s finale.
Wasn't just today @TheSergioGarcia was heckled. Was disappointed with what I heard on the course yesterday!
— Craig Connelly (@theweeman77) May 11, 2015 Garcia, who lost a two-shot lead he held as he made the turn, also heard cheers and “Bravo!” from fans as he completed his regularly scheduled week tied with Fowler and Kisner at 12-under. He was pleased with his overall play.
“I hit a lot of good shots today, I hit a lot of good putts. And it’s a shame. Obviously, I thought I had hit a great putt on 18 now, it just didn’t break as much as I thought,” Garcia said about the par that eliminated him from advancing to the sudden-death playoff.
“But overall, it was another good week here at the Players,” Garcia said. “I gave away a lot of shots and still almost won this tournament, so I can’t be disappointed.”
Update: On May 18, Ty Votaw, the PGA Tour’s executive VP & chief global communications officer, responded via e-mail to SB Nation’s earlier request for comments about the heckling at The Players with this statement:
“It is our goal to create the absolute best tournament in golf —- from the field to the course to the experience for the players inside the ropes, and for the fans outside the ropes.
“If players were subjected to inappropriate comments and heckling during their rounds at THE PLAYERS, that behavior is completely contrary to our goal. Over the last several years, we doubled uniform police, significantly increased our private security presence and hired more senior officers to help with crowd control. We will continue to evaluate ways in which we can be more diligent in reducing any distraction to players and ensuring our no-tolerance policy is implemented. Fans who act inappropriately and affect the tournament experience with disrespectful behavior will be ejected immediately.
“THE PLAYERS 2015 was one for the record books, and we are dedicated to ensuring a few poorly behaved fans do not impact the competition or the experience for our players and fans.”
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