The Most Controversial Golfers

Sergio Garcia, in 2002 (and beyond)

Everyone loved Garcia's exuberance at the 1999 PGA, but it didn't last. Said one U.S. star after the 2002 Ryder Cup, "We lost to 11 gentlemen and one little boy." Even European captain Sam Torrance got mad when El Nino made light of Torrance having ranked the win behind his marriage and the birth of his child. "One moment here," Sam said to the child star in front of the press. "I tell you one thing: You will have a kid, and you'll know how important it is. It was more important than today." When New York fans jeered his incessant waggling at the '02 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, Garcia flipped them the bird. After he lost the '07 British Open at Carnoustie to Padraig Harrington, Sergio wallowed in self-pity, saying the gods were against him. He criticized Augusta National as "too tricky" in '09 but later apologized.