Golf: Torpedoed Garcia watches Masters defence sink out of sight

AUGUSTA, Ga. (Reuters) - Sergio Garcia’s U.S. Masters title defence was torpedoed when he carded an eight-over 13 on the 15th hole of his opening round and his hold on the Green Jacket sank without a trace when the Spaniard shot a six-over 78 on Friday.

As horrifying as Garcia’s tie for the worst ever single hole score at the Masters was on Thursday, the Spaniard’s second round may have been even worse as he added a double-bogey to six more dropped shots on a day when he managed just two birdies.

An opening round 81 combined with Friday’s 78 for a halfway total of 15-over-par 159, meaning Garcia was rooted near the bottom of the leaderboard as he missed the five-over cut-line by a whopping 10 shots.

The only golfers to register worse scores were amateurs Matt Parziale (16-over) and Harry Ellis (22-over).

Danny Willett is one man capable of sharing Garcia’s pain as he headed to the exit after the 2016 Masters champion saw his title defence evaporate in two days last year and the Briton repeated the feat this time following rounds of 75 and 76.