LIV Golf has carried out extra than simply disrupt the established order of golf – it additionally appears to have created a wedge between outdated buddies.
Twenty-three-time PGA Tour winner Rory McIlroy was blunt at a press convention throughout the Hero Dubai Desert Classic final month when requested if he felt the necessity to restore his relationship with former Ryder Cup teammate Sergio Garcia amid the likelihood that the Spaniard may nonetheless make the workforce in 2023.
Sergio Garcia, proper, and Rory McIlroy have fun victory throughout the morning fourball matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on Sept. 29, 2018 in Paris. (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
“No,” he responded sharply.
RORY MCILROY DEFENDS PATRICK REED SNUB, SAYS THERE’S NO NEED TO ‘ACKNOWLEDGE HIM’ AFTER CHRISTMAS EVE SUBPOENA
McIlroy has not shied away from making public remarks about PGA Tour defectors, saying in October that “it is the first time in my life that I have felt betrayal.”
The feeling is mutual with Garcia saying this week that the blame for his fractured relationship with McIlroy falls on him.
Rory McIlroy, left, talks with Sergio Garcia on the twelfth tee throughout a observe spherical previous to the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club on Aug. 8, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
“I think it is very sad,” Garcia instructed The Telegraph Thursday. “I think that we’ve done so many things together and had so many experiences that for him to throw that away just because I decided to go to a different tour, well, it doesn’t seem very mature; lacking maturity, really.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
“Rory’s got his own life, and he makes his own choices, the same way that I make mine. I respect his choice, but it seems like he doesn’t respect the ones I make. So a one-way street,” he continued.
Garcia and McIlroy have been longtime buddies each on and off the course, with McIlroy even being a groomsman in his wedding ceremony in 2017. Garcia instructed the outlet that whereas he’s not against a reconciliation, he doubts McIlroy is interested by one.
Rory McIlroy, left, talks to Sergio Garcia throughout the first spherical of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2021 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Sure, I don’t have a problem with him. He’s the one that has a problem,” he stated. “So if he wants to reconcile, then I’m willing to talk, but I’m not sure he’ll put himself down to that level.”
Garcia is the all-time Ryder Cup factors chief which means his absence from this yr’s match may spell bother for Team Europe, no matter anybody’s emotions about his present tour.