Garcia needs to stop heckling Tiger Woods and play golf

Prior to this week, we already knew Sergio Garcia couldn’t beat Tiger Woods in golf – the past 15 years can sort of speak for themselves.

After this week’s latest media circus in the world of golf, we now know something else – the controversial European golfer can’t beat Woods in a war of words, either.

If you haven’t seen the news by now, Garcia fired the final shots in his two-week verbal spat with Woods this past week – pointed comments that will forever tilt the public opinion pendulum in Tiger’s favor.

While speaking at a PGA European Tour player’s dinner, a reporter asked Garcia if he would apologize to Woods at the upcoming U.S. Open.

Garcia’s response shifted the petty feud into full-blown ignorance with his response.

“We’ll have him around every night,” Garcia said. “We will serve fried chicken.”

Dear Sergio – shut up and play golf.

The Spaniard’s comments throughout the entire two-week spat with Woods are like a microcosm of his entire career.

Poor play, excuses, poorer play, pointed words and then excuses and apologies.

It all started in the third round of the Players Championship with the longtime foes playing in the final pairing.

Garcia yanked an approach shot probably 30-40 yards wayward on the Par 5 second hole – a shot that was truly reminiscent of a swing made by any amateur you’d see playing at a local golf course.

That’s the poor play.

After the shot, Garcia blamed Woods for the awful approach, saying that he mishit the ball because Tiger pulled a club from his bag, which drew a response from the gallery – a sound that Garcia said distracted him and caused the bad shot.

Woods claimed he pulled the club from his bag because marshals in the gallery told him Garcia had already hit his ball.

Two marshals have come public since the shot and have proclaimed that they told Woods he was clear to begin approaching his shot because Garcia had played his ball.

Regardless, the accusation marks the predictable excuse from Garcia.

Following Garcia’s accusation, Woods fired back and the two went back and forth with subtle jabs throughout the rest of the event.

No harm, no foul – let’s keep playing golf.

A day after the initial shots were fired, Garcia seemed to put all of the ill will behind him and was staring down Woods on the back-nine.

But on the famous 17th hole TPC Sawgrass, Garcia predictably sizzled and burned, sinking two balls into the water to fall well out of contention.

Just to add a cherry on top, he also put his tee-shot on the 18th hole in the drink.

That’s the poorer play.

The pointed words came into play following his defeat when Garcia launched his full-scale verbal assault on Woods – telling everyone willing to listen propaganda about how Woods is a liar, a cheat and everything else of the sort.

It shifted from innocent rivalry to sheer ignorance this week at that player’s dinner where Garcia was again soundly defeated by his foe.

Instead of just being a gracious loser on the course, Garcia will now be regarded by the golfing world as an unlikeable figure off it – a person who used a racial slur to attack Tiger Woods.

So with the damage already done, the easiest way for Garcia to fix the damage is to look at his enemy and do exactly what Woods has done the past few years – win.

America is a forgiving country – if you are successful at your craft.

Woods is as good an example as any.

Following his car crash, which uncovered his admitted infidelities, sponsors ran from the golfing icon because his popularity hit the skids.

When Woods returned to the tour following the accident, he didn’t play well, and many wondered if he would ever become the conglomerate that he was in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Those talks are mere memories of yesteryear now, as Woods is in peak form and is again on top of the golfing world.

When people think of Woods today, they again think of an elite golfer – they no longer think of an unfaithful husband.

So for Garcia to get the same level of forgiveness, he needs to just shut up and play.

He needs to go out on the golf course, keep his mouth closed and continually post solid numbers.

Garcia needs to contend in the biggest events of the year – and maybe even win a few of them, too.

If he does that, we’ll forget all about anything he’s said and done in the past – it will all be wiped clean forever.

As the great Doc Rivers once said, “Winning is like good deodorant. It hides a lot of bad stuff.”

Playing solid golf would do just that for Garcia – it would breed forgiveness.

But until that happens, his story is what it is.

He’s the guy who can’t beat Tiger Woods – neither on or off a golf course.