Tiger Woods vs. Sergio Garcia: The war of words and a backswing

Tiger Woods versus Sergio Garcia: There is nothing better than a knock-down, drag-out fight in golf. And this is a war of words and etiquette rather than fisticuffs on the hockey rink, a benches-clearing brawl in baseball or a shot-for-shot showdown on the golf course.

The two are in a three-way tie for the lead at the Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where stormy weather has been the backdrop to a contentious weekend of play.

It all started at the par-five second hole during the rain-interrupted third round on Saturday when Garcia was in mid-swing as spectators across the fairway reacted with cheers and howls when Woods prepared to play a shot.

“Well, obviously Tiger was on the left and it was my shot to hit,� Garcia said in an interview with NBC during a weather delay Saturday.

“He moved all the crowd that he needed to move, I waited for that. I wouldn’t say that he didn’t see that I was ready, but you do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit and right as I was in the top of the backswing, I think he must have pulled like a five-wood or a three-wood and obviously everybody started screaming.

“So that didn’t help very much. But it was unfortunate because ... I mean I might have hit it there if nothing happens, you never know ... but if I hit a good shot there and maybe make birdie, it gets my day started in a bit of a different way.�

Woods later said in an interview that he’d been told it was OK for him to prepare to hit his shot.

“The marshals, they told me he already hit, so I pulled a club and was getting ready to play my shot, and then I hear his comments afterwards, and not real surprising that he’s complaining about something,� Woods said.

Garcia was at a loss after hearing Woods’ explanation.

“There’s really not much you can do,� Garcia said. “I think that I try to respect everyone as much as possible out there. I try to be careful what I do to make sure it doesn’t bother the other players.�

Of course, the controversy spilled into Sunday when each player was forced to complete their third round and then wait until about 11:45 a.m. PDT to begin the final round, which might not be completed because of more stormy weather.

Luckily, Garcia will be in the final pairing of the day with co-leader and PGA Tour rookie David Lingmerth of Sweden while Woods will be in the next-to-last group with unheralded American Casey Wittenberg.

“He’s not my favorite guy to play with, he’s not the nicest guy on tour,� Garcia told ESPN’s Bob Holtzman of Woods on Sunday.

“We don’t enjoy each other’s company. You don’t have to be a rocket engineer to figure that out.�

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