Sergio Garcia apologized Tuesday for his tantrum during the final round of the Masters when he tore up the turf after a bad drive on the second hole and then broke his driver against a bench.

Geoff Yang, chairman of the Masters competitions committee, issued a code-of-conduct warning to the Garcia on the fourth tee. The conduct policy was new to the Masters this year.

“I want to apologize for my actions Sunday at The Masters tournament,” Garcia said in a social media post. “I respect and value everything that The Masters and Augusta National Golf Club is to golf. I regret the way I acted and it has no place in our game. It doesn’t reflect the respect and appreciation I have for The Masters, the patrons, tournament officials and golf fans around the world.”

Garcia, the 2017 champion, began with a bogey and then hit a weak fade on the par-5 second hole that was headed to the bunker. He recoiled his driver onto the tee, and then turned and slammed his club into the turf.

Without repairing the damage, Garcia then smacked his driver against a wooden bench holding a water cooler, and the head of the club was left dangling from the shaft.

Garcia declined to discuss what was said by the official, saying after his round, “I’m not going to tell you.” When asked about it again he replied, ”Next question.”

He also did not apologize for his behavior after his closing 75 to finish in 52nd place among the 54 players who made the cut.

“Just obviously not super proud of it, but sometimes it happens,” Garcia said.

Garcia has not finished in the top 10 in the 29 majors he has played since beating Justin Rose in a playoff at Augusta National in 2017. He has missed the cut six times in eight appearances at the Masters since winning.

Asked about his record, Garcia said, “Bad golf.” When a reporter asked him to be more specific, Garcia said, “Bad shots.”

Garcia was disqualified in 2019 at the Saudi International for damaging greens in frustration. His antics over the years include angrily kicking off his shoe when he slipped during a tee shot at the World Match Play in 2001, and the shoe nearly struck an official.

He also spit into a cup during a World Golf Championship at Doral after three-putting.

The PGA Tour has been developing the code-of-conduct policy the last few years, and the Masters was the first tournament to put it into effect. The PGA Championship also be using it next month at Aronimink Golf Club.

After the warning, a second violation during the tournament is a two-shot penalty, while a third violation would mean disqualification.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Brooks Koepka was one of several high finishers at the 2026 Masters to enjoy a boost up the Official World Golf Ranking on Monday.

Fresh off a tie for 12th at Augusta National Golf Club, Koepka vaulted 40 spots to No. 129. He has now climbed 126 spots since before his return to the PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open in February.

Since he is currently ineligible to play in signature events, the four majors and the Players are important for Koepka. He rose 48 spots after a tie for 13th at TPC Sawgrass the week after a 47-point jump with a tie for ninth at the Cognizant Classic.

While playing for LIV Golf, Koepka’s ranking had plummeted to No. 425 ahead of last year’s U.S. Open.

He was one of several players to enjoy significant boosts from a strong Masters finish.

LIV’s Tyrrell Hatton, who rallied for a tie for third at Augusta and was the league’s only player to finish under par, rose eight spots to No. 23. LIV colleague Dustin Johnson did rise from No. 593 to No. 456 with his even-par finish for a tie at 33rd, while fellow former world No. 1 Jon Rahm actually dropped a spot to No. 31 with his tied for 38 effort.

The top three in the rankings remained unchanged, with Masters champion Rory McIlroy remaining No. 2 behind Scottie Scheffler and one ahead of Cameron Young, who played in the final group Sunday with McIlroy. Young ultimately finished tied for third along with Justin Rose, who climbed to No. 4 ahead of Tommy Fleetwood.

Russell Henley used his spot in that group that tied for third to vault six spots to No. 6.

Another big mover was Jake Knapp. The 31-year-old moved into the top 50 during the final week in the eligibility window to qualify for his second Masters. He then secured a ticket back to Augusta National next year with an 11th-place finish that also pushed him from No. 42 to a career-best 36th in the world rankings.

Max Homa also secured a spot in the 2027 Masters field with his tie for ninth that elevated the former United States Ryder Cup member 46 spots to No. 117.

Among those going in the opposite direction was J.J. Spaun. Coming off a victory the previous week, Spaun missed the cut at Augusta National to drop five spots to No. 10.

Bryson DeChambeau’s triple-bogey finish that cost him a chance to play the weekend didn’t hurt him much in the rankings. He fell only one spot to No. 25 on the heels of winning consecutive events on the LIV Golf circuit.

The OWGR figures to see significant movement again next week following the signature event at the RBC Heritage.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Augusta National wanted a Rory McIlroy repeat.

It saw a Rory McIlroy repeat.

McIlroy has done it again. On Sunday, the Northern Irishman became the fourth player in Masters history to go back-to-back, joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.

McIlroy further cemented his legacy in the tournament’s history not by blowing away the field or by producing a final-round score for the ages. After 36 holes, he had a record six-shot lead. But he sweated out this Masters Sunday, with two birdies in Amen Corner the difference.

While McIlroy faltered at the start, the other contenders did too — and ultimately, it was the 36-year-old career Grand Slam champion who was able to hold on, and for once, let the chaos unfold around him. A defending Masters champion has held the 54-hole lead or co-lead seven previous times, but only two of them went on to win. On Sunday, McIlroy’s final-round 71 to finish at 12 under par made him the third.

Scottie Scheffler, still ranked as the best player in the world, shot a bogey-free final-round 68 to get to 11 under par. It’s the third time he has finished second at a major championship.

McIlroy’s day began at 2:25 p.m. ET, tied for the lead at 11-under with Cameron Young, this year’s The Players champion, who had a one-shot lead after two holes. Young extended that lead to two shots when McIlroy three-putted from six feet on the par-3 4th. That was at 3:26 p.m. It took another hour and 23 minutes for McIlroy to wrest back control of this tournament, after Young had given Justin Rose a chance at the top.

But Rose felt the wrath of Amen Corner, and Young stalled out with a long string of pars, leaving an open door for McIlroy. McIlroy birdied Nos. 12 and 13, walking away from the infamously difficult three-hole stretch of the property in 2 under par.

After a tumultuous 48 hours in which McIlroy extended his lead to six strokes on Friday only to lose it entirely on Saturday, this tournament was McIlroy’s again. Only this time, he did not let it go.

“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam, and then this year I realized it’s just really difficult to win the Masters,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy began this week at Augusta National with a weightlessness to him that was almost unrecognizable. For 14 years, McIlroy arrived here for Masters week and could perfectly predict what questions would be coming, what torments he would face. He felt physically uneasy when he set foot on the property.

“I think for the past 17 years I just could not wait for the tournament to start, and this year I wouldn’t care if the tournament never started,” he said, hours before a Champions Dinner that would draw raves from its attendees for the wine list, wagyu filet, and elk sliders.

That anxiety dated back to 2011, when McIlroy, a fresh-faced 21-year-old with a mop of curly hair, held a four-shot lead heading into the final round. But he collapsed, painfully so, and shot an 80. Charl Schwartzel slipped on the green jacket, and McIlroy tied for 15th place. He called his parents the next morning in tears. The memories would stay with him for more than a decade as he tried desperately to figure out how to win this golf tournament.

McIlroy teed off in a final pairing with Bryson DeChambeau last year on Sunday for what would become one of the most jarring and chaotic final rounds in Masters history. He started with the lead, lost it, regained it, and lost it again with a sloppy wedge shot into Rae’s Creek on No. 13, only to end up in a sudden-death playoff with Rose. McIlroy birdied the extra hole to not only win his first Masters but also to become the sixth to win the career Grand Slam.

So when McIlroy stepped foot onto the Augusta National grounds for tournament week, his relationship with the club had done a complete 180. No longer was this piece of property where McIlroy felt a sense of underlying stress and tension. It was suddenly a place with a fresh set of memories: The images of one of the most joyous, celebratory days of his golfing career flashed before his eyes at every corner. McIlroy’s looseness and positivity beamed from the inside out. Now, the new question: Was it his time to defend?

“I think the nice thing now is instead of it being come on, Rory, you know you can do this, it’s back to back. There’s a real positive connotation to it,” he said on Tuesday.

Swinging free and easy, McIlroy shot an opening round 67 to tie for the lead with Sam Burns. And on Friday, he remained aggressive — a 7-under 65 was proof that his plan to attack this golf course was working.

Since the first Masters in 1934, this was only the sixth time a player has led any of the four men’s majors by six or more strokes after two rounds. Each of the five previous players went on to win.

But this is McIlroy, and history suggests that sometimes, the statistics do not tell us everything. McIlroy’s scorecard appeared unflappable, but his driving accuracy painted a different picture: He was ranked 90th out of 91 players in fairways hit after two rounds, and that kind of scrambling never holds up for long. On Saturday, McIlroy was one of two players in the top 10 to post rounds over par, and he lost the entirety of his six-shot lead — a double bogey at No. 11 marking his most significant blunder of the day. But despite a third-round 73 and a six-shot lead erased, McIlroy maintained the mindset that helped him go on to win on Sunday last year.

He and caddie Harry Diamond reminded each other, again: We would have taken this position at the start of the week.

“I did bounce back. I hit some good shots coming in. But yeah, I’m in a great position. I just know I need to be better tomorrow to have a chance,” McIlroy said early Saturday evening, before a late range session to figure out why he was hitting his drives left.

A year ago, the past champions seemed to want to will McIlroy into their club. This year, they openly wondered how many more green jackets he’d win. “Rory may never lose this thing again,” 1992 champion Fred Couples said.

McIlroy may lose another Masters, but it won’t be this year.