Sergio Garcia Apologizes for Sunday Rampage at the Masters

The 2017 Masters champion received a code-of-conduct warning after slamming and breaking his driver in frustration on the 2nd tee.

Sergio Garcia issued an apology Tuesday for poor behavior in the final round Sunday at the Masters. | Michael Madrid-Imagn Images

Sergio Garcia issued an apology Tuesday for a tirade in the final round of the Masters that drew a code-of-conduct warning from tournament officials.

The 2017 Masters champion from Spain, playing early Sunday with fellow former champion and countryman Jon Rahm, hit a wayward drive on the 2nd hole and proceeded to pound his driver into the tee box, causing enough damage to require repair. He then continued his tantrum by slamming his driver into a cooler beside the tee box, snapping the head of his driver and rendering it unusable.

Two holes later, Masters competition committee chairman Geoff Yang spoke to Garcia and, according to the Associated Press, issued a code-of-conduct warning—a first in 90 editions of the Masters.

Tuesday, Garcia posted on social media and showed remorse for his actions.

“I want to apologize for my actions Sunday at the Masters Tournament,” he wrote. “I respect and value everything that The Masters and Augusta National is to Golf. I regret the way I acted and it has no place in our game.” 

pic.twitter.com/HgWI8WVBXS

— Sergio Garcia (@TheSergioGarcia) April 14, 2026

That was a different tone than what Garcia took after the round Sunday, when he said “I’m obviously not super proud of it but sometimes it happens.”

Garcia, who played the rest of his final round hitting 3-wood off many tees, was also standoffish when asked about what Yang told him, saying to reporters “I’m not going to tell you.”

Garcia’s temper has been an issue for years. At last year’s British Open, he snapped his driver during a fit in the final round. He also flipped off a heckling crowd at the 2002 U.S. Open; he swiped a bush in the 2017 British Open, injuring his shoulder; and was disqualified at the 2019 Saudi International for a tantrum in the bunker.

The code-of-conduct warning that Garcia received is part of a new policy for competition that the PGA Tour has been developing and the Masters is the first to use, according to the AP. The PGA Championship also plans to use the policy, one year after Wyndham Clark flung his club at a sign behind the tee box and nearly hit a volunteer, and the other two majors could follow suit.

The second conduct violation would be a two-shot penalty and the third would be disqualification.