The first time I saw Sergio Garcia play golf was in 1999, in Atlanta, right before the Masters, when he played in the Georgia Cup, an annual two-player amateur match in which the reigning British Amateur champion plays his U.S. counterpart.
That year, El Niño — at 19, the kid already had a nickname and a presence — played Hank Kuehne, a long-hitting Texan from a famous golfing family. Garcia’s parents were on the scene, hiking the hills at the sprawling Golf Club of Georgia. Garcia’s father, Victor, a club pro and Sergio’s teacher, was as reserved as his son was boyish and splashy. Sergio had an athletic and rhythmic swing that paid tribute to the joys of lag. Garcia won handily. In victory he was gracious, charming, Continental. Golf looked like it came easily to him. Everything did, really.
Not even two weeks later, Garcia was the low amateur at the Masters, a tournament that celebrates up-and-coming promise, along with manners and personality. (Kuehne missed the cut that year and never played in another Masters — a golf game is a fragile thing. It’s a Fabergé egg.) In Butler Cabin, on the Sunday night of the ’99 tourney, Garcia sat beside the new winner, José María Olazábal, a working-class golfer with a regal bearing. Olazábal was the second Spaniard to win at Augusta. That green coat was his second, after foot issues that nearly ended his career. Severiano Ballesteros, Europe’s Arnold Palmer, was the first Spaniard to win at Augusta. Seve and Chema and eventually El Niño — in 2017, Garcia became the third Spaniard to win at Augusta. Since then, another Spanish golfer, Jon Rahm, has won the tournament. Quite a foursome.
Ballesteros got into the World Golf Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Olazábal came up short his first two times but the third time was the charm. It was his character that carried the day. Rahm, 31, is already a U.S. Open and Masters winner. He hasn’t added another major since joining — and recently departing — LIV Golf but he’s likely on a long road to Pinehurst, the hall’s newish home (as well as its first home). For active players, the age requirement is 45. But what about Garcia, who is 46: Is he bound for Pinehurst? On paper (or per AI), you’d have to say yes. The record is there. How HOF voters judge his character, his standing in the game, will make or break his chances. For now, he’s in a holding pattern.
Garcia was born in 1980 and has one major title. He was not among the Hall of Fame finalists for the hall’s Class of ’27, announced a couple months ago. In other words, he didn’t make it out of the nominating committee. Justin Rose was born in 1980 and has one major. Adam Scott, the same and the same. Both were among the finalists. They had something Garcia did not. Whatever that something is, it makes all the difference. Here’s a stab at it: manners. Garcia’s longstanding petulance has made it hard to remember his youthful exuberance.
Garcia is not the first prodigy who didn’t deliver on all of his amateur promise. Golf became harder for him as a pro, short putting down the stretch most especially. It is true that even when Tiger was at the height of his powers, nobody in professional golf hit more quality iron shots than Garcia. He drove it long and in play. But closing is closing, in sales and in tournament golf. He has the one major title. He’s had an amazing career. But one major is one major. He doesn’t have two, as Collin Morikawa has. Nor three, as Jordan Spieth has. Nor four (Scottie Scheffler), nor five (Brooks Koepka), nor six (Rory McIlroy). Maybe it’s frustrating. To be less gentle about it: It must be frustrating. Enter petulance.
Let’s not forget all he has accomplished. Garcia has won dozens of times, all over the world. He’s won a Players title. He’s one of the greatest-ever Ryder Cuppers. By record, he’s miles north of Fred Couples, who’s in the Hall of Fame.
But Garcia spat in a cup during play (Doral 2007). He’s been graceless in defeat more than a few times. He has a TikTok highlight reel of on-course temper tantrums. This year — Sunday at the Masters, second tee, playing with Jon Rahm — he had such a hissy fit over a shoved drive (and who knows what else) that a tournament official, a member in a green coat, came out to give him a code-of-conduct warning about his behavior. This, to a man who is an honorary member of the club.
I don’t recall anything like that ever happening at any major event, in the men’s pro game, in women’s pro golf, in amateur golf. Manners are baked into the game’s soul. If you’re good enough and disciplined enough to break 70 on a hard course, you should have mastered the game’s etiquette.
That doesn’t mean be an automaton. Not at all. It means respecting playing partners, fans, officials, your host, your environment, the rulebook.
Last week, in a statement about his future, Garcia said, “This offseason, I’m working really hard on my game and putting a big focus on a strong mindset and my mental health.” It’s his statement, he can say whatever he wants, of course. I might have suggested something more like this: “For years now, I have acted like a spoiled brat. I’m gonna try my best to change that.”
Garcia’s LIV Golf career is evidently over, as he announced that he will be playing the DP World Tour next year and that he’s “keeping my options open for a return to the PGA Tour.” What does he mean, keeping his options open? He has no immediate route back, not that I can see. He left in a foul mood, and he’s suspended from the PGA Tour for now for going LIV and signing up for all those guaranteed millions in the first place. Going LIV came at a cost to the tours that made him. The arrogance is astounding.
In the statement, Garcia said he left Augusta last year “disappointed with myself and my actions, and I’m ready to show what I’ve learned and where I am mentally.” That’s certainly admirable. Even more admirable would have been this: I acted like a baby, which is kind of ridiculous. I’m 46! But I can change. I hope I can.
He concludes by saying that in golf “everything is earned and nothing is given. Let’s get to work.” He surely did the work, but Sergio Garcia was given great gifts the day he was born: a golf teacher for a father; superior eye-hand coordination by DNA; unlimited access to the game. To whom much is given, etc. In 1999, we expected more. More significantly, Garcia surely expected more of himself. The models were there.
It’s not too late. It never is. A legacy hangs in the balance here. We shall see.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.
