Garcia suggests Saudi series move

Spaniard furious over ruling during Wells Fargo event, says ‘can’t wait to leave this tour’

WASHINGTON:

Spain's Sergio Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion, blurted out angry comments Thursday at the US PGA Wells Fargo Championship that indicated he could be planning to join the upstart LIV golf series.

Garcia's comments came as he was searching for a lost ball following his tee shot at the par-4 10th hole on his way to an opening-round 67, three-under par, at TPC Potomac in suburban Washington.

Garcia pulled his tee shot into tall grass left of the fairway and found his ball after a lengthy search but was told by a US PGA Tour official that he had taken 90 seconds beyond the three-minute limit that rules allow to search for a missing ball.

After arguing that he had not started looking for the ball until he reached a certain area where he knew it landed, well after the official had started the clock, Garcia's frustration boiled over.

"I can't wait to leave this tour," Garcia said. "I can't wait to get out of here.

"Just a couple more weeks until I don't have to deal with you any more."

Garcia went on to make par at the par-5 10th hole and later holed out from 161 yards to eagle the par-4 15th hole.

Garcia did not speak to reporters after his round so there were no more details about his future plans, but the Spaniard appears set to leave the PGA for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.

According to multiple reports, Garcia is among at least 12 players who have requested a release from the US PGA Tour to play in next month's inaugural LIV Golf event in London rather than the Canadian Open, that week's US PGA tournament.

The new rival series to the PGA plans four more events later this year in the United States and has found support from six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, last year's PGA Championship winner.