Unlike many of the all-time greats of the modern game, Padraig Harrington wasn’t someone who often lost his cool on the golf course.
The three-time major winner, who was the most recent player to win back-to-back at The Open Championship, played with a calm, composed rhythm. He was a player who always respected the game’s etiquette, no matter the circumstances.
Harrington said that was the key to his success during his professional career. He said, “I don’t lose my temper. I don’t show it. It’s more deep-rooted. It never was a swing thing. It was a mental thing. I won my three majors because my focus was so good.”
That was in direct contrast to one player in particular, with who he frequently clashed with on the biggest stages. Harrington said he could not tolerate his behaviour on the course.
Why Padraig Harrington called Sergio Garcia a ‘sore loser’
If there was ever a fitting antagonist to Harrington’s composed approach to the sport, it was Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard always wore his heart on his sleeve and let his temper flare on the course on multiple occasions.
Once, he infamously spat in a hole after missing a putt, and that’s something that sat with Harrington for years.
Speaking on Irish radio in 2017, he said, “His is a very flamboyant game, everything comes easy. There were periods he never practiced. I worked at it, grinded it out, got the best of it.
“I’m very strong with the etiquette of the game, so I don’t tolerate people spitting in the hole, throwing their shoes or throwing golf clubs. That would be my attitude, and that would be quite clear from where I came from.”
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Harrington snatched the 2007 Open Championship from Garcia’s fingers. Garcia had a 10-foot putt to win at Carnoustie, but it lipped out, and the Spaniard lost in a playoff to Harrington.
But the Irishman said he wasn’t happy with how Garcia behaved after the loss, saying, “I gave him every out I possibly could at the 2007 Open. I was as polite as I could, and as generous as I could be.
“But he was a very sore loser, and he continued to be a very sore loser. So clearly after that, we had a very sticky wicket, I’d say. The Ryder Cup obviously improved it to no end. But look, we say hello to each other every day we meet, but it’s with gritted teeth, there’s no doubt about it.”
Sir Nick Faldo called Sergio Garcia the most immature player he’s ever seen
It appears that Harrington wasn’t the only European golfer that Garcia rubbed the wrong way. Sir Nick Faldo made a very strong statement about the Spaniard after his comments about Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy was openly critical of any player who joined LIV Golf, and Garcia responded to those criticisms, saying in a 2023 interview with The Telegraph: “I think it is very sad.
“I think that we’ve done so many things together and had so many experiences that for him to throw that away just because I decided to go to a different tour, well, it doesn’t seem very mature; lacking maturity, really.”
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Faldo was incensed by Garcia’s comments and took to X to respond, saying: “Now this is rich coming from the most immature player I’ve ever witnessed!!”
It’s a long-standing beef dating back to the 2008 Ryder Cup, when Faldo called Garcia “useless”.
While they Harrington and Garcia have since made up, it seems that he wasn’t exactly endearing himself to his Ryder Cup teammates during his prime, despite becoming the all-time leader in points!
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