Sergio Garcia needs to take a break

Sergio Garcia went ballistic Thursday after blasting out of a greenside bunker during a bogey-bogey-bogey stretch.

He slammed his wedge into the bunker five times, then threw the club at his bag, leaving caddie Gary Matthews to clean up his mess.

The former No. 2 player in the world has slumped since suffering a broken heart at the hands of Morgan-Leigh Norman — daughter of Greg — in the spring of 2009.

“It hurt,” he said.

Garcia announced last weekend that he will take a two-month break after the PGA Championship, bypassing the FedEx Cup events and the Ryder Cup.

“I need to miss the game a little bit,” he said.

Some will rip him for his outburst Thursday, but Garcia, who shot a six-over-par 78, has been playing in a trance for most of the last year and a half. So from this perspective, it was refreshing to see he still cares.

Bogey: Stuart Appleby. Golf’s newest “Mr. 59” had the lead after opening with birdies on Nos. 10, 11 and 12. But he played his final seven holes in three over and finished at even par. The fade was understandable, though, given that Appleby is playing for the 13th consecutive week.

Birdie: Jason Day. The 22-year-old Aussie shot a 69, a nice result for someone who has two top-10s in 19 PGA Tour events this season. “I’d be lying if I said I expected it,” he said.

Bogey: Corey Pavin. Maybe Golf Channel’s Jim Gray was onto something when he reportedly told the Ryder Cup captain: “You’re going down.” Pavin is way down on the leaderboard after shooting a seven-over 79.

Birdie: Loyal Cheeseheads. “It’s really special to play here,” said Jerry Kelly, a native of Madison, Wis., who shot a 75. “Every tee, every green, you get people applauding you.”

Bogey: Pace of play. Tiger Woods’ group teed off at 11:39 a.m. and finished nearly 5 1/2 hours later.

tgreenstein@tribune.com