NORTON, Mass. — Sergio Garcia didn’t quite go full “Tin Cup” on Sunday afternoon at the Dell Technologies Championship, but he was left to improvise on the fly.
It all started on the driveable par-4 fourth hole at TPC Boston. Garcia hit a tee shot to the front fringe, 25 feet from the hole, but his eagle attempt caught a slope and took a right-hand turn, ending up 13 feet away. He then slammed his putter in anger against a sprinkler head, bending it and rendering it unusable for the remainder of the round.
According to Rule 4-4b: “If during a stipulated round, a player’s club is damaged other than in the normal course of play rendering it non-conforming or changing its playing characteristics, the club must not subsequently be used or replaced during the round.”
No matter — at least not initially.
Garcia holed that ensuing 13-foot birdie attempt with his 3-wood. By the time he’d reached the ninth hole, though, he was putting with his driver, an effort that led to him lipping out a 15-inch par attempt on that hole.
On the 17th hole, he sank an 8-footer with yet another club, his 3-iron, en route to posting a 4-over 75 for the day.
Following the round, Garcia declined to comment.
For the day, he needed 33 total putts, compared with 26 and 29 in the first two rounds, respectively. He made just 16 of his 21 attempts inside of 10 feet on Sunday, and failed to make any of his eight putts from outside of 15 feet.