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Not for the first time in 2019, Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar have found themselves making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Squaring off against one another in this evening’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play quarter-final, the duo were on the par-3 seventh, with Kuchar one-up, when it all kicked off.
After Kuch could do no better than bogey, Garcia had a putt for par to win the hole and square the match.
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However, his effort missed by a couple of inches on the left side and, with Kuchar out of shot and having presumably left the scene, Garcia used the back of his putter to tap the ball in.
Just one problem: he missed.
Another example of Sergio Garcia being immature during a professional golf event. pic.twitter.com/Gj4YPinYEg
— Affordable Tents (@AffordableTent1) March 30, 2019
No big deal, right? Wrong. According to the PGA Tour, a rules official intervened to say that, because Kuchar did not have the chance to concede the putt before Sergio went to tap in, the stroke stood and, consequently, Garcia lost the hole. Two-down.
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In the same tweet, the tour explained that Kuchar had “told the official he wanted to give Garcia the putt, but that cannot be done retroactively.”
Matt Kuchar did not have a chance to concede Sergio Garcia's second putt.
Therefore, Garcia lost the hole.
Kuchar told the official he wanted to give Garcia the putt, but that cannot be done retroactively. pic.twitter.com/AJFF8N5J7h
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 30, 2019
If only that was the end of the matter.
On the next hole, Garcia failed to convert another putt and swiped his putter through the air in frustration.
Sergio Garcia actually acts like a normal human on the Golf Course: pic.twitter.com/JZcyU12yEG
— Sports Plug (@_SportsPlug) March 30, 2019
He could later be heard – on the tenth, it seems – telling Kuchar that he should have conceded the eighth to make up for the drama at the seventh. “I would have given you the putt on the next hole,” Sergio is heard to say.
“I would have given you the putt on the next hole,” says Sergio. pic.twitter.com/sYhICydCua
— Dave Tindall (@DaveTindallgolf) March 30, 2019
Stay tuned – this one isn’t over yet!
Sergio/Kuchar contoversy – your thoughts?
Should Matt Kuchar have given Sergio’s putt on the next hole after the gimme that never was on the seventh? Or do you think the episode played out entirely as it should have? Leave your thoughts in our Comments section below.
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