Sergio Garcia says his feud with former Ryder Cup team mate Rory McIlroy is over after the pair resolved their differences at the US Open.
McIlroy, 34, voiced his opposition when some of golf’s biggest names, including Garcia, joined LIV Golf.
The PGA Tour and DP World Tour agreed a shock merger with LIV Golf on 6 June and Garcia, 43, wanted peace between the tours sooner.
Garcia said: “I wish this would have happened a year and a half ago.
“To give you an example – it wasn’t because of the merger, but the US Open was a great event for me. I feel like I played well, but more than anything because I gained a friend back, a friend that I kind of felt like I lost in the last year or so. We talked and we had a great conversation, and I feel like I have that friend back and that to me means a lot.”
They were both part of Team Europe at the 2021 Ryder Cup when the United States claimed a 19-9 win at Whistling Straits.
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy finished second at the US Open earlier this month and Spain’s Garcia claims they were brought back together during the tournament when McIlroy had a friendly interaction with his wife Angela Akins Garcia.
“I had been thinking about [rekindling the friendship] for a while but I wasn’t totally sure,” Garcia said.
“But then I saw that reaction from him and it kind of gave me the incentive to get closer and we had a great chat.
“I think that at the end of the day, the important thing is that we got together and talked; we were two friends that wanted to get back to that spot.
“Like I said, no doubt it was the saddest part of all of this, these friendships turning sour.”
Meanwhile, Sir Nick Faldo has questioned whether LIV Golf has a future following the merger.
The deal between the previously warring factions is still subject to scrutiny in the United States and details remain light, however, the “framework agreement” states that LIV’s future will be determined by the new entity and the board is set to be controlled by a PGA Tour majority.
Asked if LIV can survive, six-time major winner Faldo said: “I don’t think so, because nobody’s really interested.
“They’re not going to get the sponsorship that they want. They call it a team [event] and it’s not because it’s strokeplay.
“You see your mates on the putting green and say ‘play well’ and you see them in the scorers tent and say ‘What did you shoot?’ That’s it. A team is out there helping, shoulder to shoulder. That’s a true team.
“You have the ultimate team event, the Ryder Cup, you know the passion and the atmosphere of that. They’re not playing with the same passion and atmosphere as the Ryder Cup.
“It’s only half a dozen [players] that are really current, half of the field I don’t really know and half the field are there for the very nice last-placed money that you still get if you shoot 20 over.”
