Now if you taunted a black player with slurs you would be ejected and most likely charged with a hate crime. The golf commentators remarks were way out of line.
Sergio Garcia plays through merciless taunting, rips hecklers at The Players
By Emily Kay on May 11, 2015, 10:30a 36
Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Sergio Garcia endures heckling as he falls short at The Players Championship.
ergio Garcia expected TPC Sawgrass fans to cheer for his popular Players Championship rival, Rickie Fowler, during their playoff with little-known Kevin Kisner. And the 2008 Players champion has weathered his fair share of razzing -- like the cheers that greeted his double dunk at the par-3 17th after his earlier run-in with Tiger Woods at TPC Sawgrass in 2013.
But even though the heckling aimed at the 35-year-old Spaniard was louder and nastier than any of the good-natured taunting fans dish out on the notoriously boisterous 16th hole at the Phoenix Open, Garcia played down the fan misbehavior during Fowler’s dramatic overtime win.
"It was great for the most part," Garcia said about the badgering that started well before the three-hole aggregate playoff. "Obviously, some guys there that don't deserve to be here watching golf, but that's what it is."
What it was was hassling that began after Garcia made his way to the back nine on Sunday and took an especially ugly turn during the three-man playoff when some of the spectators chanted "U.S.A." as he putted on the 17th green.
"It was probably about three or four times on every hole since the 10th hole," Garcia, who backed away from his tee shot on 17 in regulation and shook his head, said about the unsportsmanlike conduct.
the "putt of his career" and had a wonderfully smooth look back at all coliseum-style crowd surrounding that island hole.
"I wouldn’t say that [they caused me to miss the ball], no. They shouted at the wrong time on top of the ball, so I was able to back away," Garcia said. "When I get in contention, no [it wasn’t any more than usual]."
The ugliness was not limited to those in the gallery. Garcia appeared to be watching NBC’s coverage of the end of regulation when Dan Hicks imitated his Spanish accent and Johnny Miller -- who was aggressively rooting for Fowler -- suggested that Garcia could use a "siesta."
Garcia, who lost a two-shot lead he held as he made the turn, also heard cheers and "Bravo!" from fans as he completed his regularly scheduled week tied with Fowler and Kisner at 12-under. He was pleased with his overall play.
"I hit a lot of good shots today, I hit a lot of good putts. And it’s a shame. Obviously, I thought I had hit a great putt on 18 now, it just didn’t break as much as I thought," Garcia said about the bogey that eliminated him from advancing to the sudden-death playoff.
"But overall, it was another good week here at the Players," Garcia said. "I gave away a lot of shots and still almost won this tournament, so I can’t be disappointed."
