Sergio Garcia still regards his former Ryder Cup comrade Rory McIlroy as a ‘friend’ despite the tension 

between them due to the divide caused by the PGA Tour and LIV Golf controversy.

Garcia, who became one of the high-profile players to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league two years ago, 

found himself at odds with McIlroy, who has been an outspoken critic of the breakaway group.

The rift between the two golfers came into the spotlight when McIlroy disclosed that during the height of the golfing dispute in 2022, 

Garcia sent him a text at the US Open in June, bluntly telling him to ‘shut up’ about his views on LIV Golf.

“He was basically telling me to shut up about LIV, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” McIlroy recounted to the Irish Independent. “I was pretty offended and sent him back a couple of daggers and that was it.” However, it seems the duo have made efforts to mend their strained relationship since then, reports the Irish Mirror.

A year after their heated exchange, Garcia acknowledged that a conversation between his wife Angela and McIlroy at the 2023 US Open helped thaw the frosty relations. “Angela and Rory said ‘Hi’ to each other at the US Open,” the LIV Golf player remarked last June.

“And there was a nice text from Rory to her. That kind of gave me the go-ahead to reach out to him. I had been thinking about it for a while but I wasn’t totally sure about it. And when I saw that reaction from him, he kind of gave me the go-ahead to get closer. We had a great chat. It was two friends that wanted to get back to that spot. That’s the most important thing.”

Despite this, McIlroy still fired a dig in the direction at Garcia some months later. The Northern Irishman had previously suggested that LIV could co-exist with the PGA Tour in a similar fashion to cricket’s Indian Premier League, taking a one-month slot in the season.

Garcia meanwhile was less than impressed with this suggestion, telling the Evening Standard that he felt LIV ‘deserved more’ than four weeks a season. The response was posed to McIlroy at the Dubai Desert Classic in January, as he rolled his eyes and commented: “Yeah, Sergio feels he deserves a lot of things. “

Six months on however it appears there is in fact no bad blood between the ex-Ryder Cup teammates. Garcia was asked on an Instagram Q&A who his favourite pro golfer was, and included McIlroy in the list. ” I love to watch my friends,” he replied. “The guys I get along with.

“Guys like Jon Rahm, my teammates at Fireballs and Rory and guys like that. I don’t have anyone in particular but my idol was always Seve [Ballesteros] and [Jose Maria] Olazabal. Yeah, that is what it is.”

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Source: Tampa Bay Times