Sergio Garcia breaks driver in frustration at The Masters and forced to play on without it
Watch: Sergio Garcia snaps head off driver as ball bounds into bunker in Masters final round.
Sergio Garcia’s final round at The Masters was disrupted on Sunday after he snapped the head off his driver following a frustrated reaction on the par-5 second hole.
Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion, faded his tee shot into the right-side fairway bunker and reacted by striking his driver into the turf twice. As he returned to walk towards his bag, Garcia then proceeded to break his driver on a water cooler.
Under the Rules of Golf, if a club is damaged in anger — such as by slamming it against a bag, striking it against the ground, or breaking it deliberately — it cannot be replaced during the round. So it meant Garcia was required to continue without a driver for the remainder of his day.
Watch what happened here:
The incident forced an immediate change to his game plan.
The impact of not having a driver available was felt straight away on the short par-4 third, where Garcia was unable to attack off the tee and instead opted to lay up with an iron.
Garcia went on to make a par on the second hole, but his momentum faded early in the round.
Bogeys on the first, third and fourth holes contributed to a difficult start to his final day at Augusta National.
He went on to card a three-over 75 to finish outside the top 50 on eight-over par.
Garcia played the final round alongside his LIV Golf peer and compatriot Jon Rahm.
Rahm has also endured a tough week at Augusta National.
The 2023 Masters champion did salvage some pride on Sunday though with a 68 to finish the week at one-over par.
Garcia made his 27th appearance at The Masters this week.
The Spaniard remains one of the most experienced players in the modern game, having won The Masters in 2017 in a playoff over Justin Rose.
That win saw him become just the third Spaniard to slip on the coveted Green Jacket after Seve Ballesteros and José María Olazábal.
Garcia made his Masters debut in 1999 at the age of 19, earning Low Amateur honours as Olazábal won his second title.
He reached a career-high world ranking of number two in November 2008.
Garcia has won 11 PGA Tour titles, 16 DP World Tour events and holds the record for most individual Ryder Cup points (28.5).
He joined LIV Golf in 2022, where he now captains Fireballs GC.
Garcia has won on the Saudi-bankrolled league twice, with wins coming in Andalucia (2024) and Hong Kong (2025).
Andy Roberts first joined GolfMagic on a month's work experience back in April 2011.
Andy then assumed the role of GolfMagic Editor in 2015.
