Sergio Garcia’s famous temper flared again, and this time it resulted in him snapping his driver at the 153rd British Open on Sunday.
The Spaniard played without all 14 clubs at his disposal because he lost his cool after hitting a wayward drive left on the par-5 second hole at Royal Portrush Golf Club. Garcia, 45, slammed his driver on the hard links turf and the shaft snapped in the middle.
“I didn’t feel like I did that much on the second tee. Obviously I didn’t hit a good drive, and I kind of — I didn’t smack it straight down. I kind of like swiped it back. I’ve done that 50 times, and I’ve never broken a club,” he said. “The shaft just snapped in half, and I was surprised. I wasn’t trying to break it, and I was actually surprised when I saw that — because usually, if it breaks, it breaks by the neck, and it broke in the middle of the shaft.”
He added: “Then I got some good practice with the 3-wood.”
Garcia had to play the remainder of the round without the club. The Rules of Golf do not allow a player to replace a club broken in anger. Rule 4.1 states: “A player is allowed to keep using and/or to repair any club damaged during the round, no matter what the damage and even if the player damaged it in anger.
“A player is not allowed to replace a damaged club, except when it is damaged during the round by an outside influence or natural forces, or by someone other than the player or his or her caddie.”
Garcia has a long history of outbursts on the golf course. He was hoping for a strong finish this week to leave a lasting impression on European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald. Garcia has been a member of every European Ryder Cup team since 1999, with the exception of 2010 and 2023, and has a career record at the Ryder Cup of 25–13–7. He won earlier this year on LIV Golf but has struggled in the majors, missing the cut at the Masters and back of the pack at the PGA Championship. (He failed to qualify for the U.S. Open.)
“I had a good conversation with Luke last week, and we both know what we want,” he said earlier this week. “The only thing I can do is keep working hard, keep building my confidence up, and if I’m able to do that, then it should be fine. We’ll see.”
Garcia managed to make birdie at the second hole after snapping his driver. He didn’t miss a beat without the club, signing for 3-under 68. Asked how he would’ve scored with all 14 clubs in the bag, he said, “I don’t know, maybe I would have shot worse. You never know.”
