2017 Masters champion suffered the ultimate sanction by the tour after damaging multiple greens in frustration during his third round. Players in the groups immediately behind García are understood to have voiced their upset after being forced to encounter this spoiled turf.
García, who is no stranger to fits of pique on the golf course, had narrowly made the Saudi cut following rounds of 69 and 70.
Saturday saw him sign for a 71, one over par, but he was duly called before European Tour officials after details emerged of clubs being smashed into putting surfaces on several occasions. The tour duly took the highly unusual step of implementing their rule 1.2a which permits disqualification for cases of “serious misconduct”.
In a statement, García said: “I respect the decision of my disqualification. In frustration, I damaged a couple of greens, which I apologise for, and I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again.”