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Sergio Garcia won't face suspension for serious misconduct, according to report
Andrew Redington
Following his disqualification for "serious misconduct" at the Saudi International, the Scotsman reports Sergio Garcia will not face further suspension from the European Tour.
While there have been calls on social media to ban Garcia— who was accused by fellow golfers playing in groups behind him of purposely dragging the soles of his shoes into a handful of putting greens and not repairing a divot, causing damage to the putting surfaces—for various lengths of time, European Tour CEO Keith Pelley has decided the 2017 Masters champ won't face further discipline.
"The incident is over,” Pelley said, according to the Scotsman. “We have dealt with it. Sergio has apologized to the players and we move on.”
Robert Rock, one of the players forced to deal with Garcia's damage, echoed Pelley's remarks.
“Like everyone else, I did not know who it was. I wasn’t sure if it was one person or more people. I have spoken to Sergio about it. He faced up to it and we are fine," Rock said. "Everyone makes a mistake at some point.”
Aside from his behavior on the greens, Garcia also let his frustrations out on an unraked bunker, and voiced his displeasure at a volunteer after a cell phone rang during Garcia's backswing.
In a statement following the third round, Garcia said: “I respect the decision of my disqualification. I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologize for, and I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again.”