Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia aren’t exactly best friends. If anything, they are a long way off the above-mentioned term. But the two golfers once belonged and played at the highest level of golf, which meant the occasional face-offs were unavoidable. The situation was similar in the 2013 Players Championship, where one thing spilled into another until it became the talking point of the tournament. It eventually made Garcia spit his dislike for Woods, out in the open.

The Sergio Garcia-Tiger Woods rivalry at 2013 Players Championship

The event at Ponte Vedra Beach in Floria was already marred with rain delays and stormy conditions across the weekend. However, what subsided was a three-way tie for the lead, two of which had a history between themselves.

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Interestingly, both were vying to secure their second Players Championship. While Woods won the 2001 edition of the event, Garcia secured one of his 36 professional wins at the 2008 Players Championship. The pair were already at crossroads with each other due to past differences, but an incident at the 2nd hole on Saturday further deepened the ill feeling.

It all kicked off during Garcia’s attempt on the rain-interrupted third round. While in mid-swing, the Spaniard was exposed to loud cheers and howls from the galleries. Later did he realize that it wasn’t meant for him, but for Tiger.

As it happened, the 15-time major champion had decided to unravel his club to get ready for his shot, which sent the fans into a frenzy. It was exactly at the same point as Garcia’s shot, which harmed the latter’s swing. The LIV golfer decided to make a case for the issue, which prompted a war of words between him and Woods.

The blame game between Woods and Garcia

“Well, obviously Tiger was on the left and it was my shot to hit,” Garcia said in an interview on Saturday. Garcia then bemoaned how Tiger’s minute movement of picking up a club eventually distracted him from hitting a clean shot.

In response, Tiger claimed he was unaware of Garcia’s 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,” he said.

That was it to stoke the age-old fire. While responding to Woods, Garcia focused on respecting other golfers on the circuit. “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,” he said.

He reserved the best for Sunday. “He’s not my favorite guy to play with, he’s not the nicest guy on tour,” Garcia said. “We don’t enjoy each other’s company. You don’t have to be a rocket engineer to figure that out.”

After all that bickering and complaining, the stage was set for a grandstand finish. But alas, the top honors went to Tiger again, while Garcia had to stay content at a tied 8th place.