Brooks Koepka was extremely critical of Sergio Garcia following his disqualification from the Saudi International in 2019, claiming that The Masters champion from two years earlier needed to grow up.

Garcia has been no stranger to controversy during his career. The Spaniard has been involved in a number of incidents over the years that have led to his behaviour being questioned.

One of the most infamous events on the course came seven years ago, with Garcia being thrown out of the Saudi International after the third round at Royal Greens.

Brooks Koepka criticised Sergio Garcia after his disqualification at the 2019 Saudi International

Garcia had already attracted unwanted attention during round two, after taking his frustration out on a bunker after needing two attempts to get out of the sand.

The following day, Garcia – who is the all-time leading points scorer in the Ryder Cup – was accused of damaging a number of greens during his round. It led to complaints from players in the groups behind.

He did apologise for the incidents and claimed that it would never happen again.

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When asked on the Playing Through Podcast shortly after, Brooks Koepka – who was playing ahead of Garcia – insisted that there was no excuse for his actions.

“That’s just Sergio acting like a child,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate that he’s got to do that and complain. Everybody’s got to play the same golf course. I didn’t play very good, but you didn’t really see anybody else doing that.

“I mean, you’re 40 years old, so you’ve got to grow up eventually.”

The role Sergio Garcia reportedly played in the downfall of LIV Golf

Garcia has been a passionate player throughout his career. And the game definitely needs those characters who do get emotional. However, it would be difficult to argue with those who believe that Garcia has crossed the line too many times.

Interestingly, there have been claims that Garcia’s actions played a part in the downfall of LIV 1.0 earlier this year. He was warned after damaging the second tee box at Augusta National during the final round of The Masters.

According to the Financial Times, the embarrassment helped convince Yasir Al-Rumayyan to pull the plug on the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia supporting LIV Golf.

In fairness to Garcia, Al-Rumayyan must have already been reaching the end of his tether if that incident factored into the decision from the PIF to walk away. News of Garcia having a temper was hardly groundbreaking. And there were plenty of other figures associated with LIV who did a better job of embarrassing the league over the years.

If that was truly the breaking point, it is safe to assume that LIV’s downfall was inevitable anyway.