Sergio Garcia has been cleared of any rules breach following an incident midway through Thursday’s opening round of the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Garcia arrived at the course this morning (Local UAE time) where he was met by European Tour Chief Referee, John Paramor.
Paramor conveyed the current World No. 10 to the nearby TV compound to review video footage of Garcia on the 18th green of the National Course.
Garcia is shown having marked his ball on what was the ninth hole of his round but then reaches forward with his putter to tap down something on the green.
However the Spaniard was adamant he was merely tapping down a pitch mark that he is allowed to do under the Rules of Golf.
In fact, Garcia asked Paramor to be taken to the 18th green and then after a break in the second round play he walked to the spot to show Paramor the pitch-mark in question.
Paramor accepted Garcia’s version of the affair and that he did not infringe Rule 16-1c that states: “The player may repair an old hole plug or damage to the putting green caused by the impact of a ball, whether or not the player’s ball lies on the putting green. If a ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved in the process of the repair, the ball or ball-marker must be replaced. There is no penalty, provided the movement of the ball or ball-marker is directly attributable to the specific act of repairing an old hole plug or damage to the putting green caused by the impact of a ball.
A Tour official later commented: “John Paramor is satisfied with Sergio’s version of the matter and that is the end of the issue.”
Bizarrely, the incident comes the very week England’s Simon Dyson is returning to competition since being fined (STG) £30,000 and given a two-month suspended sentence for 18 months after being disqualified for cheating in last October’s BMW Masters in Shanghai.
American golfer Tom Kite had been questioned over a similar action during the final round of his 1992 US Open success at Pebble Beach and later cleared of any breach of the rules.
Garcia was the center of controversy on day one of this week’s $US 2.7m event after injuring his left shoulder playing a shot of the rough and declaring the rough to be ‘dangerous’.
However Tournament Director, Miguel Vidador downplayed the likelihood of any danger.
“The rough this year has actually been cut back more this year than in previous years,” he said.
Garcia was then headed to the Tour’s physio van following his meeting with Paramor and confident, after extensive treatment also late on Thursday, of resuming his place in the Abu Dhabi field.
