Sergio Garcia talks about his relationship with Rory McIlroy after LIV Golf breakup
Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy were once good friends, but things soured after the Spaniard decided to leave the PGA Tour and join LIV Golf.
Despite the PGA Tour and LIV Golf being polar opposites, Sergio Garcia still considers his former Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy a “friend.” Garcia was one of several prominent players who left the PGA Tour two years ago to sign with a Saudi-backed team. McIlroy, meanwhile, shared opposing views, with the Northern Irishman declaring himself one of the staunch critics of the LIV structure. In late 2022, as golf’s civil war was reaching its height, McIlroy said Garcia texted him during that year’s U.S. Open in June, telling him to “shut up” if he was insulting the newly formed separatist league.
“He told me to shut up about the LIV, BLA, BLA, BLA, BLA,” said the 2014 Irish Open Independent champion. So. A year after the fracas, Garcia acknowledged via text that his wife, Angela, had been in conversation with McIlroy at the 2023 U.S. Open, sparking the European couple to renew their friendship. “Angela and Rory said hello to each other at the U.S. Open,” the golf star told LIV last June. “Then I got a lovely message from Rory giving me permission to get in touch. I thought about it for a while and wasn’t sure, but his response kind of gave me the green light to approach him. We had a great conversation.
“They were friends who wanted to come back to this place. That’s the most important thing.” Nevertheless, a few months later, McIlroy began to look in Garcia’s direction, with the Northern Irishman previously suggesting LIV could co-exist with the PGA Tour in the same way as Premier Cricket. Indian League by taking a one-month slot in the season.
Garcia, on the other hand, was far from being impressed by the proposal, and told the evening standard that he felt more than four weeks per season. The answer was raised in January in Dubai Dessert Classic Makiroy, but he turned his eyes and commented.
Six months, but in fact, there seems to be no bad blood between the former cider cup teammates. When Garcia was asked on his favorite professional golf, Instagram, he added Macillulie to the list: “I love seeing my friends.” “I am nearby. “Guys like Jon Rahm, my Fireballers teammates, Rory and guys like that. “Nobody in particular, but my idols have always been Seve (Ballesteros) and (Jose Maria) Olazabal. Yes, that’s it.”