Sergio Garcia hits back at Rory McIlroy's LIV comments with PGA Tour warning
Sergio Garcia has responded to Rory McIlroy's latest assessment of LIV Golf, claiming the Saudi-backed league is "here to stay".
McIlroy has announced himself as one of LIV's biggest critics since its formation in June 2022, but heading into the new season the Northern Irishman appeared to have softened his approach. McIlroy admitted earlier this month thar there is a place for LIV in the professional game, simialry to how the Indian Premier League operates in cricket.
He told Sky Bet's Stick to Football podcast: "What I would love LIV to turn into is almost like the Indian Premier League of golf. The IPL in cricket, they take two months during the calendar. "
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"You have four weeks in May and four weeks in November, and you go and do this team stuff – it’s a bit different, and it’s a different format. If they were to do something like that, I think that sounds like fun – you’re at least working within the ecosystem."
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Whilst McIlroy's comments appeared to show a change in stance towards the LIV setup, his former Ryder Cup teammate Garcia is far from convinced. The Spaniard - who is one of LIV's 12 team captains - believes the breakaway league deserves more than just a two-month stint on the pro golf calendar.
He told The Standard: "I don’t think we want to be important for one month. We all deserve more than that.” With a framework agreement looming between the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), the sport's civil war is finally set to come to an end this year.
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Rory McIlroy appeared to soften his stance on LIV Golf (Getty Images)With negotiations ongoing, it remains to be seen what part LIV will play as part of the deal. With the deal yet to be signed off it remains business as usual for the Saudi-backed league, who showed a statement of intent when luring in Masters champion Jon Rahm last month.
Despite uncertainty surrounding LIV's future, Garcia believes the signing of his fellow Spaniard shows they are going nowhere anytime soon. "It shows we’re here to stay for a long time. People were thinking this is going to be two or three years and then gone. You’re seeing guys sign through to late 2020s and maybe even the 2030s.”
The signing of Rahm was seen as LIV's biggest coup yet, with the world No. 3 making a huge u-turn in giving up his PGA Tour playing rights to join the Saudi league. This Masters champion is of course a huge loss for the PGA Tour, but the Spaniard is hoping he will be hoping to compete across all three tours (the DP World Tour included) at some point.
"I do want to maintain my PGA Tour and DP World Tour status," he said in December. "I will not give that up. Hopefully with the freedom LIV gives me I can play both those tours. There are certain PGA Tour events I want to play as long as my schedule allows. If possible, I want to make that happen.”
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