Tiger Woods is thriving on the course, but he's always been accused of running afoul of the unwritten and written rules of the game. After Round 3, of The Players Championship Sergio Garcia was a little salty towards Woods for what he perceived to be was Woods' disregard for golf etiquette. The rivalry between Woods and Garcia has arrived a decade late, but they may finally be providing some long-overdue sparks on the course and through the media.
Via USA Today:
Garcia had struck a perfect drive while Woods hooked his tee shot into the woods on the left. Garcia's second shot from 275 yards went 40 yards right of his target, into the woods and pine straw on the right. Garcia was visibly irritated, motioning that a burst of noise in the middle of his backswing led to the extreme mis-hit.
Later, Garcia said the culprit was Woods. As Woods was figuring out how to extract himself from a thorny issue — his ball was on pine straw in the trees — Garcia said Woods pulled a 5-wood or 3-wood from his bag as Garcia began his swing. At that time, the spectators surrounding Woods let out a cheer, seeing that Woods was going to go for the green. That cheer threw Garcia off.
However, Woods wasn't having any of that once he was informed of Garcia's accusations.
"Obviously, he doesn't know all the facts," Woods said. "The marshal said he already hit and I pulled the 5-wood and hit.
" … It's not really surprising he was complaining about something."
Garcia's griping may be small beans, but in his defense, Woods has been known to get equally perturbed whenever the slighest camera phone clicks during his swing. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Woods and Garcia are tied atop the leaderboard. Either way, Garcia can use any inspiration he can find. Garcia has a history of dissolving like wet toilet paper whenever he takes the lead in a major tournament.
