Rory McIlroy has disclosed a fiery text message he received from Sergio Garcia amid golf's civil war.
Mcllroy has arguably been LIV Golf's biggest critic since its inception, while his Ryder Cup team-mate Garcia decided to make the move to the Saudi-backed series - which inevitably led to tension, culminating at this year's US Open.
"He [Garcia] was basically telling me to shut up about LIV, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” McIllroy shared in an interview with the Irish Independent. "I was pretty offended and sent him back a couple of daggers and that was it."
The pair were close pals, with the former world number one even being a groomsman at the Spaniard’s wedding back in 2017. However, with Garcia joining LIV Golf, things quickly changed.
The four-time major winner reportedly said he was not aware that the 42-year-old was moving to LIV Golf until he informed him on the practice range at the Wells Fargo Championship in May. As a result of his LIV move, last week Garcia dropped out of the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) for the first time in 23 years.
One key dent in LIV's armour amid the ongoing civil war with the PGA Tour is its lack of recognition from OWGR. The Spanish star made his way into the world's top 100 since winning the 1999 Irish Open as a 19-year-old. But this stay though is now over, after dropping to 103 in the world last Monday.
Despite his spot in the rankings taking a hit, and to an extent his legacy, Garcia is still confident he made the right decision in joining LIV Golf. He said: “I can only speak for myself, but I've definitely made the right decision. I feel like I'm where I want to be.
"Obviously, I knew some of the things that might happen if I joined here, but at the end of the day, as we're seeing… you can see that some of the guys on the other side don't really want me there.” He also commented on the heartache of missing out on the next Ryder Cup next year in Rome, with LIV Golf stars set to be banned from competing. "I don't want to be a burden to anyone and even less in a Ryder Cup,” he added.
“I'd rather be away from that as much as it hurts and make sure that Europe has the best chance of winning than me being there and three or four guys that are going to be there are going to be upset or something.” Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald remained tight-lipped on whether LIV Golf stars will be selected for the 2023 event.
“What’s going on in men’s professional golf at the moment is still kind of up in the air and I’m trying not to think about it,” Donald told Golf, by TourMiss. “I know there’s a court hearing coming up in February with the European Tour and LIV, so we are going to have to wait and see where it goes from there.
“And while I may be good friends with guys like Lee (Westwood), Sergio (Garcia) and many others, I am sure they know that my role is not to be political, nor is it my job to have any influence on those decisions. It’s not like I am coming out saying ‘this and that’, so far I’ve not had to face that.”
