‘The Sergio Rule’ Aims to Cut Out Golf Tantrums
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Angry outbursts by Sergio Garcia and others have lead the R&A, golf's governing body, to introduce a new ‘three-strikes policy’.
The Open, which is being hosted at Royal Birkdale from July 12–19 this year, will apply what is being coined “the Sergio Rule”, with players being told it will be “three tantrums and you are out”. At the Masters in Augusta earlier this month, Sergio Garcia famously became the first golfer to fall foul of the event’s new code of conduct. During the final round, the mercurial Spaniard smashed his driver into the ground after an errant strike and then broke the club in half when taking out his frustrations on a water cooler.
A few holes later, an Augusta official spoke to Garcia and it was later revealed to be an official warning. If Garcia had transgressed again, he would have been hit with a two-shot penalty and, after that, with disqualification. It was the second time in as many majors that Garcia had snapped his driver in a fit of pique.
Garcia is not the only one with 'form'. Tyrrell Hatton has a history of smashing up tee-boxes, while Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre was also spoken to by officials at Augusta after yelling “Jesus f---”. And, at last year’s US Open, America's Wyndham Clark petulantly wrecked a dressing room locker after missing the cut.
“We are looking to implement a code of conduct,” says Mark Darbon, the R&A’s chief executive. “We’ve been working closely with the organisers of the other majors and the tours more broadly. I would expect to see a similar policy introduced this summer.”
The golfing authorities have plainly had enough at what they see as the rapid decline in etiquette. This new code of conduct may solve the problem. Now all they have to do is apply something similar to miscreant spectators - particularly at the Ryder Cup.
