The 20-year-old Spaniard, upon finding his ball in a divot on the ninth fairway, slammed his club into the turf.

He managed to save par on his way to a one over par 73, but again struck his club on the St Andrews course later in the round.

European Tour chief referee John Paramor admitted Garcia's behaviour would bereported and he is likely to face a fine of around �500.

His volatile temperament has previously earned him a rebuke.

In October last year he was reprimanded and warned about his future behaviour at the World Matchplay at Wentworth for kicking his shoe down the 15th fairway and almost hitting the match referee after slipping when playing his tee shot.

Garcia blamed his actions on his lack of good fortune during his round which saw him end up 10 shots behind Tiger Woods.

"I think that was one of the unluckiest days I have had in my life," Garcia said. "I was in divots on the third, fourth and ninth and the one on the ninth was about three inches deep.

Regret

"I did wrong but the guy who was there did wrong in the way he repaired the divot. I had to hit a chip with an eight iron instead of an ordinary wedge and suddenly you go from a good birdie chance to trying to save par.

"It's very frustrating but sometimes you are going to do things you don't want to. I do regret it but you have to realise not many people can play golf the way we do because it's hard to handle everything around it.

"You don't want to do these things but it was really hard to handle today."

Garcia's eventful day was summed up on the 17th when his second shot finished hard against the face of the Road Hole bunker and he had to putt backwards to enable him to clear the sand.

That cost him a double bogey six and although he birdied the last it would take a repeat of Paul Lawrie's comeback from 10 shots behind on the last day for him to have a chance of winning.