Tiger Woods was in Washington, D.C. and Sergio Garcia in London, and yet although separated by the Atlantic Ocean, the two golfers continued their verbal sparring, with Garcia insinuating that Woods is a consistent liar.
Woods at first attempted to downplay the rift, but eventually confirmed his animus for Garcia has existed for years.
“No,” Woods said at Congressional Country Club outside of Washington, D.C., when asked if he had attempted to contact Garcia to clear the air. Woods was taking part in media day activities for the June 27 to June 30 AT&T National, a tournament he won last year that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation.
Garcia, in London, told the media: “He called me a whiner. That’s probably right. It’s also probably the first thing he’s told you guys that’s true in 15 years. I know what he is like. You guys are finding out.”
This all started at the TPC Sawgrass May 11-12. Woods and Garcia were involved in a lively back-and-forth after the Spanish star became irritated at a distraction he felt Woods could have avoided on the second hole of the third round.
When Woods was surveying his second shot from trees to the left of the fairway, with gallery members surrounding him, he pulled a club from his bag, which elicited cheers from spectators — just as Garcia was addressing his ball.
Garcia felt the resulting poor shot could have been avoided had Woods waited. The two sparred in the media afterward, and that spilled into the next morning, when after their weather-delayed third round was completed, Garcia said he was glad to not be grouped with Woods in the final round. “He isn’t the nicest guy on tour,” Garcia said.
The story progressed after Woods won the tournament, with tournament marshals contradicting the events and how they played out.
Later, at Monday’s media day, Woods told USA Today: “Obviously the matter has been put behind me. The truth came out. As I was saying the entire time, I told people what I had heard and what had happened.”
One thing Woods and Garcia agree on is that neither cares about what the other thinks.
“He doesn’t make a difference to my life and I know I don’t make a difference to his life,” Garcia said Monday. “This is not just one thing. This has been going on for a long time.”
Garcia, speaking at an event Monday in London hosted by his sponsors, didn’t back down from further discussing his beef with Woods.
“He can and will beat me a lot of times, but he is not going to step on me,” Garcia said. “I’m not afraid of him.”
