Sergio García withdraws from BMW PGA Championship to attend Texas - Alabama football game
What better way to say you’ve got better things to do than leaving the tournament you’re playing in to watch a different sport in a different country?
Golf fans witnessed a rather strange occurrence this weekend, with the withdrawal of the Spaniard in England and then his reappearance at a college football game a day later in the United States.
Sergio García withdraws from BMW PGA Championship
According to an announcement on Saturday, Sergio García withdrew from the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in Surrey, England. There was no official reason given for Garcia’s withdrawal. The Spaniard of course had finished his opening round on Thursday with 4-over 76, before the second round was postponed on Friday following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Play was later resumed, however, DP World Tour announced that it would now be played in a 54-hole format as opposed to the original 72. Garcia had only played 18.
Was Sergio García just supporting his friend Scottie Scheffler?
Interestingly, it wasn’t long before García resurfaced. Only this time it was on the opposite side of the Atlantic in Austin, Texas to be precise. Attending the massive game between Alabama and Texas, García was spotted by FOX Sports cameras on the field before kickoff. The 2017 Masters winner was accompanied by his wife, Angela as well as 2022 Masters winner Scottie Scheffler and his wife, Meredith. As mentioned before, there has been no official word on why García withdrew and exactly why he went all the way to Texas, but it’s worth noting that Scheffler who is a Texas alumnus, was presented with the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year award on ESPN’s College GameDay before kickoff.
Official W/D reason given https://t.co/dK93E4cxuV pic.twitter.com/bgs1rO8JfD
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) September 10, 2022
Related stories
Also worth mentioning is the fact that García, who’s playing on the LIV Golf series, wasn’t the only one to withdraw from the tournament in England. Justin Rose, Ryan Fox and Kristoffer Broberg also pulled out of the event. In addition, there were also Nino Bertasio and Andrea Pavan who called it quits in the middle of their rounds as well.
What can we make of Sergio García’s withdrawal?
While it may be tempting to think that García was trying to tell the DP World Tour that a Longhorns game is more important than their tournament, it’s unlikely that it was actually the case. What is more probable is that between the untimely passing of Britain’s Queen and the subsequent postponement of the tournament, García simply opted to cut his losses in order to attend a friend and fellow golfer’s award presentation. While it’s clear that the Spaniard hasn’t been popular among some of his peers since defecting to LIV Golf, there is likely not much more to this scenario that what’s already been discussed.