AUGUSTA, Ga.— Whatever the contributing factors were to Sergio Garcia’s opening 74 in the Masters, the 2017 champion was not willing to cite one proposed reason.
After moving to two under through eight holes on Thursday, Garcia stumbled in with four bogeys. But in case you were wondering, Garcia was definitely not distracted by the awkward dynamic of returning to Augusta National as a member of a new rival circuit. This was at least the LIV golfer’s position when asked about the atmosphere by a reporter following his round.
“Totally normal,” Garcia said. “You guys need to stop it. You guys are making a big deal out of this, and it's you guys.”
The reporter countered the storyline was more than a manufactured narrative from the media.
”No, it’s not,” the reporter said.
“Yes, it is,” Garcia replied. “I've had nothing but great things from every single player I talk to. So please stop it and talk about the Masters.”
Asked about the DP World Tour’s arbitration win over LIV Golf (a U.K. court upheld the former European Tour's ability to sanction players who breached its conflicting tournament release regulation and played in LIV events), Garcia said he didn’t know about the ruling, couldn’t discuss it as a result and, also, wasn’t really interested in learning more.
“I probably won't catch up on it,” the golfer said.
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