Sergio Garcia will get a chance to redeem himself for bad behavior next year when he returns to the Saudi International. Garcia’s last appearance in the European Tour event in Saudi Arabia ended in disqualification after he willfully damaged greens and slashed around in a bunker during the tournament.
When Garcia played the inaugural Saudi International in February 2019, he received an appearance fee reportedly in the neighborhood of $650,000. The Telegraph reported that he was not asked to return any of it despite the disqualification, which came at the end of the third round when other players complained about the damage he had caused to putting surfaces.
Here’s the catch, though: His next appearance does not come with any fee.
“It is understood this was one of the conditions placed on the 2017 Masters champion by the European Tour as it spared him a suspension,” according to the Telegraph report.
Sergio Garcia’s meltdown in a Royal Greens bunker a day prior to his disqualification for vandalism work on five greens. Story by @SkySportsGolf fills in details. Translations welcomed! https://t.co/UoGmPtTOz4 pic.twitter.com/dQMDN7y2PC
— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) February 4, 2019
The tournament will once again overlap the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2020. Dustin Johnson won the inaugural event and will return to defend.
ESPN also reported that in addition to Garcia adding his name to the 2020 field, Patrick Reed, Henrik Stenson, Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka will also play.
Garcia played 16 events on the European Tour in the 2019 season and won once, at the KLM Open.
His most recent headlines have been positive. Garcia and his wife Angela announced earlier this month that they are expecting their second child, a boy.
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