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No penalty for Sergio Garcia after viewer call-inMay 04, 2013 (The Charlotte Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Sergio Garcia experienced a bad break, as well as a bad green situation all in one day Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. Garcia was the latest victim of a call-in from a viewer questioning a ruling. On the par-3 17th, Garcia marked his ball to the side in order to stay out of Bill Haas' line. When he placed the ball back, a viewer believed he had placed the ball in front of his mark rather than back to the side. Before signing his card after the round, Garcia met with rules officials and watched the tape. They determined his ball placement was within the rules and he should not be assessed a two-stroke penalty. "I thought I put it as close as I could, obviously, with the coin still behind the ball," Garcia said. "It looked like it might have moved a tiny bit, but the rules officials felt that obviously I didn't gain anything by it. "There are a lot of times that you try to put it in exactly the same spot, but it's difficult to do, not just for me, but for everyone." Garcia said he would rather take a two-stroke penalty than be viewed a "cheater," but it didn't come to that. But penalty or not, it won't matter if he can't play Saturday. Garcia, tied for 13th at 4 under after carding a 68 in the second round, tweaked his back on his drive at the par-5 10th and was in obvious pain throughout the back nine. th at 4-under after carding a 68 in the second round. On his drive at the par-5 10th, Garcia tweaked his back and was in obvious pain throughout the back nine. His back pain, coupled with the poor condition of some greens, could force him to withdraw for the weekend. "If it doesn't feel good (Saturday), the way the greens are and my back is not feeling good, I might not play," Garcia said. "Hopefully with some good treatment and some nice rest (Friday night), I can go to the range (Saturday) and feel fine and feel like I can hit through the ball nicely with aggressiveness and speed." As if there wasn't enough drama around Garcia, he chipped in a 6-foot par putt on the par-4 third. A soft spike mark, which he estimated was about 2 inches deep, was directly in his line. Garcia pulled out a 52-degree wedge, chipped it over the mark and it rolled into the hole. "When I looked at it, I thought the only way I can make this putt is if I get lucky, if I hit it and somehow it goes straight through this spike," he said. "But I couldn't see how it'd happen ... and I was lucky to get it right." ___ (c)2013 The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) Visit The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) at www.charlotteobserver.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |