PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Sergio Garcia’s curious and controversial concession of a hole to Rickie Fowler in Friday’s WGC-Accenture Match Play match in Arizona was still the talk of golf on Tuesday when Garcia spoke with reporters in advance of this week’s Honda Classic at PGA National.
Garcia defended his decision to give Fowler an 18-foot putt on the seventh hole of their match when Garcia had just a 7-footer and a distinct advantage to win the hole. Garcia ended up losing the match to Fowler on the 18th hole, a loss that cost him $152,000 and a chance to win the event and more than $1.5 million.
Garcia explained at the time (and Tuesday) he felt bad about taking two drops and several minutes on the sixth hole to get away from a nest of bees near a greenside bunker.
He has been ridiculed by some for being too soft and giving Fowler the putt in a match Garcia led 2-up at the time. Fowler went on to make it close in the semifinals and win the consolation match to finish third in the tournament.
“I feel like I took too much time,’’ Garcia said Tuesday. “I felt like if I would have taken just one drop on [No.] 6 because of the bees, I would have been fine with it, but I took one and then I took another one because I still didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t care if some people think it was wrong or right.
“For me it was the right thing to do. If not, I would have been thinking about it throughout the whole match and probably throughout the whole week, and it’s what I felt it was right to do. This is the way my dad taught me to play the game of golf. I think that winning is important, but playing the game the right way, it’s even more important for me.
“I tried to beat Rickie as hard as I could, and unfortunately he just played awesome the last 10 holes. I feel good about what I did because it’s what I felt it was right to do, and that’s pretty much the only guy I need to please on that aspect.’’
A question that has come up since Garcia’s gracious act is whether he would have done the same thing in the heat of a Ryder Cup match, during which his teammates might not agree with it.
“Well, it depends on the situation,’’ Garcia said. “It depends on if I would have felt it was the right thing to do. Yeah, I probably would have done it, too. You shouldn’t change because it’s the Match Play, the Accenture Match Play or the Ryder Cup.
“I think at the end of the day, we all have a great opportunity to be role models to a lot of guys, a lot of kids and a lot of people, and you should be like that every time you have a chance. That’s the way of golf. It’s always been played, and that’s the way it should be. That’s why I felt it was right at that time. That’s pretty much all I can say.’’
Defending U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, the sixth-ranked player in the world, withdrew from the Honda Classic on Tuesday because of lingering right shoulder tendinitis.
Rose, who was replaced in the field by first alternate Ricky Barnes, is expected to play in next week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral. Rose also missed the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines because of the injury. He returned at the Northern Trust Open earlier this month, finishing tied for 45th.