Sergio Garcia’s Sunday at The Masters began with a misstrike, a broken driver, and a warning from officials, but quickly shifted when he carried Jon Rahm’s bag down the fairway.

The reason behind the 2017 Masters winner picking up Jon Rahm’s bag, however, was far more straightforward than it appeared.

“There was nothing. Adam stopped to rake my bunker, and Benji, my caddie, was carrying both bags, so I told him, just put it down, I'll get it so you can go and get a yardage. Just as simple as that,” said Garcia, addressing the situation after his round during a media interaction on Sunday at Augusta, shared via The Golfing Gazette.

That explanation came after the second hole. Garcia had pushed his tee shot right and found the bunker. He slammed his driver into the turf twice and snapped it against a cooler.

A few moments later, as Rahm’s caddie raked the bunker, Garcia took one bag while his own caddie handled both.

Garcia’s reaction on the second tee resulted in a warning from committee chairman Geoff Yang on the fourth tee.

Sergio Garcia declines to share details of warning conversation at fourth tee

During the press conference, Sergio Garcia was asked about the exchange on the fourth tee and declined to elaborate. “I’m not going to tell you.”

The warning also carried into the rest of his round. With the driver no longer usable under tournament rules, Sergio Garcia continued with his 3-wood for the remaining holes.

He dropped a shot at the fourth after the exchange and closed with a 3-over 75, finishing at 8 over for the week.

When the question came up again later, the 46-year-old ended the line of discussion with, “Next question, please.”

This was not the first time Sergio Garcia had faced action for his conduct on the course.

At the Saudi International in 2019, he was disqualified after damaging multiple greens during the third round at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

The issue came to light when groups behind him reported the condition of the putting surfaces, leading officials to act under Rule 1.2a.

Garcia later accepted the decision, stating his actions came out of frustration, and issued an apology after the round.

Did Garcia’s explanation change how you saw that moment?

Read more at Daily Club Golf!

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav