Abu Dhabi: Sergio Garcia says he is “extremely disappointed” after cheating allegations cropped up ahead of the second round at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship here on Friday.
The Spaniard was questioned about a breach of rules on Thursday but was then cleared of any wrongdoing. He was summoned by European Tour chief referee John Paramor, who led him to a TV compound to review video footage from the National Course on Thursday.
Garcia marked his ball on what was the ninth hole of his round, but then reached forward with his putter to tap down something on the green. He insisted he was flattening a pitch mark, which is a legal action. Paramor, after reviewing the video and the spot in question, accepted Garcia’s explanation and he was cleared to play.
“It does feel bad when you are related to that word ‘cheating’ when you have no proof. I have never ever cheated in my whole life and have put plenty of penalty strokes when nobody saw it and still I did,” the 34-year-old said.
“It was very unusual. As I was heading to breakfast, I got a call from my manager and he asked me ‘what happened at 18’? Then I called John and he said ‘there was video that showed there was a spike mark or something like that’.
“I couldn’t really believe it. We were the second group out I remember. The greens were perfect and cheating is one thing that I would never do.
“I spoke to John and told him ‘I’m sure that was a pitch mark’. The confusion was I repaired it. I remember Martin [Kaymer] was about to putt so I let him putt. Then I’m tapping the pitch mark down. I went with John and he saw the video and saw where exactly the ball was. We saw the ball mark there where it was supposed to be.
“I guess there are a few people who want to do all that. It is something I will not do. It is not the process that is wrong but the people who say such things and are wrong without proof.”
At least Garcia was cheered by his showing later in the day, which saw him shoot four-under-par to leave him on par for the tournament. “I had a tough day yesterday [Thursday] and the shoulder was a little bit tight. I iced my shoulder a little and put some cream on and felt better in the morning. I saw some nice things today [Friday] that I didn’t see yesterday. Hopefully I can build on that through the weekend.”
