Rory McIlroy (left) and Sergio Garcia became friends again after all the LIV disputes. Credit: Getty Images/Ross Kinnaird
Sergio Garcia revealed that he and Rory McIlroy have ended their bitter feud since the big golf merger between Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and the PGA and DP world tours was announced this month.
“The best thing about it all is that I’m back as a friend of mine,” Garcia said. “Of course, for me it was the lowest part of it all.”
The feud between McIlroy and Garcia was the most notable personal rift in the LIV saga. At last year's US Open, Garcia sent a message to the Northern Irish player who was the groom at his wedding and asked him to “shut up” about the breakout.
As the LIV's most vocal opponent, McIlroy didn't take the request well. “I got really offended and sent him a couple of daggers, that's all,” McIlroy told the Irish Independent.
was not impressed with Garcia after the Spaniard joined the LIV tour. Photo: Getty Images/Stacy Revere
The pair immediately cut contact, ending the alliance that the duo had played together in the Ryder Cup. When McIlroy declared that the rebels should no longer be allowed to participate in the biennial feud, the feud intensified.
As recently as February, Garcia – the top scorer in Ryder Cup history – spoke of his anger at Telegraph Sport.
“We've done so many things together and gained so much experience that for him to give it up just because I decided to go on another tour, well, that doesn't seem very mature; he really lacks maturity,” Garcia said.
But thanks to Garcia's wife, Angela, a reconciliation was achieved, ironically, at the US Open at the LA Country Club two weeks ago, exactly one year later after the split occurred.
“Angela and Rory said hello to each other at the US Open, and then Rory texted her a nice message, which gave me the opportunity to contact him [by text],” Garcia said.
Garcia's wife Angela played a key role in their reconciliation. Photo: Getty Images/Stuart Franklin
“I thought about it for a while, but I wasn't completely sure. But then I saw his reaction, and it gave me an incentive to get closer, and we had a great chat. I think what matters in the end is that we got together and talked – we were two friends who wanted to go back to that place. As I said, without a doubt, that was the saddest part of it all – that friendship soured.”
When asked if McIlroy and Garcia would now be well together in the Ryder Cup team room, the 43-year-old laughed . “It's far away, and it's not the most important thing for me,” he said. “I got my friend back, and that's the most important thing.”
Garcia made the comment here at Valderrama, the world-famous stadium on the Costa del Sol that hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup but is hosting the £20 million LIV event this week for the first time. Under current rules, Garcia is ineligible to compete in any future matches against the United States as he withdrew from the DP World Tour before the peace deal was signed.
Garcia could return to the Tour if he pays fines believed to be in excess of £800,000, but he refused to even send the original £100,000 penalty for appearing on LIV without Wentworth's consent.
“I don't feel like I've done anything wrong,” Garcia said when asked why he hasn't paid the sanctions yet. “But we will have to sit down and try to find the best solution for all of us, and hopefully they are ready to do that. I don't exactly know how to put it, but I don't think I'm right about everything and the other side is wrong either. So I think we can probably find a middle ground.”
However, Garcia acknowledges that a positive decision will not be reached in time for Rome in September.
In truth, bitterness remains among the rank and file of the Tour towards the 2017 Masters champion. Last year, the Telegraph Sport reported that Garcia used foul language during a game in Munich: “This Tour is shit, you all f**ks should have taken Saudi money” and angered the Tour's dressing room. again, pulling out after the 76th round of the BMW PGA Championship without explanation.
The presence of LIV in Valderrama is another bone of contention. The Sotogrande layout has been a regular Tour stop for the past five decades, hosting 27 tournaments, but after a tug of war the track jumped with the entrepreneurial spirit of Greg Norman. Garcia is thrilled, and not just because he has won here three times.
“Unfortunately, for too many years the DP World Tour has been promising…players were going to play, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “Valderrama deserves much more. LIV has only 48 players but it will be the best course they've ever had and I'm very proud of it because it's my favorite golf course.”
Garcia has competed in two WGC American tournaments express. in Valderrama, the first of which featured 43 of the world's top 50 players in 1999 and 37 of the top 50 in 2000, with Tiger Woods winning the first year.
Valderrama received Tiger Woods' victory in the 1999 WGC tournament, in which 43 of the top 50 players in the world played on the famous course. Photo: Getty Images/Andrew Redington.
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