Sergio Garcia concedes lengthy putt to Rickie Fowler at Accenture

Well, that sure was strange. On Friday at the Accenture Match Play, Sergio Garcia was taking it to Rickie Fowler early in their third round match.

Garcia stood 2-up standing on the 7th green, with Fowler facing a par putt of 17 feet, 7 inches while Sergio had a par putt that was just 6 feet, 11 inches from the hole.

If you’ve ever watched even a couple of minutes of match play you know that this is a good position for Sergio, knowing if Fowler misses the putt it gives Garcia a good chance of rolling in that nearly seven footer for the par and a 3-up lead.

That was where things got weird, with Garcia going good-good with Fowler even though Rickie’s putt was more than twice the distance of Sergio’s and they were both putting for the same score.

The Golf Channel talked to Sergio after the hole and he said the reason for the gesture is that he felt bad because on the previous hole Garcia had taken a good amount of time getting a ruling because there were bees surrounding his golf ball, but even after that explanation the move is nothing short of bizarre.

How crazy is it to give Fowler a putt of that distance? Before this week, Fowler hadn’t made a single putt all season outside of 15 feet, and while the putter has awoke at Dove Mountain, it still seems strange to just basically halve a hole when you have a serious advantage.

A lot of people mentioned they thought there was a little strategy behind the move by Garcia, but after winning the 9th to go 3-up, Sergio lost the next two holes and is now in a shootout with Fowler on the back nine.

Here is video of what went down on the 7th, so see for yourself the strange situation that went down between Garcia and Fowler.

Update: Well, this move actually came back to bit Garcia, as Fowler went on to win the match on the 18th green with a birdie.

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo Sports