Sergio Garcia might have been riding a little high heading into the opening round of The Masters as the reigning champion, but he quickly got brought down to earth.
Garcia was only two over par when he teed off on number 15 Thursday afternoon — he was 10 over by the end of it thanks to five consecutive shots that ended up in the water. You read that right, five.
With his 10th shot of the 15th hole, Sergio Garcia delivered his fifth consecutive ball into the water. #themasters https://t.co/Nj020wsUeB pic.twitter.com/kWA0XBSlUK
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 5, 2018
The Spanish golfer landed five straight approach shots on the green, but all five picked up speed and ran off the side of the green into the water. It’s a maddening sequence of events for any golfer, but for a professional and reigning champion it’s downright embarrassing. (SLIDESHOW: The Hottest WAGs At Augusta National This Week)
As you might expect, the Internet had a field day with it.
Sergio Garcia is looking like all of us who are not professional golfers
— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) April 5, 2018
Sources: Roy McAvoy is at The Masters, and wearing a Sergio Garcia mask
— trey wingo (@wingoz) April 5, 2018
Sergio Garcia is doing a Tin Cup #GiveMeAnotherBall pic.twitter.com/Ej9sAkiTle
— Shawn Kressin (@Kress_Golfnut) April 5, 2018
How many balls did Sergio Garcia hit in the water? #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/Uxp06cyL21
— AUDIENCE Sports (@AudienceSports) April 5, 2018
Footage of Sergio Garcia on 15 right now. pic.twitter.com/VEzCyive7W
— GOLF TALK CANADA (@GolfTalkCanada) April 5, 2018
Sergio Garcia right now pic.twitter.com/BvznxWIVsG
— oli milne (@olimilne) April 5, 2018
Garcia finished with a record-tying high score on one hole at Augusta National with the disastrous collapse by posting a 13 on the par-five. Unfortunately that’s not the worst part about it. That single score will likely keep Garcia from making the cut and playing on into the weekend. That’s definitely not the way he imagined defending his title a year after becoming a Masters champion.