Garcia has clear stance on LIV Golf and PGA Tour as he fails to qualify for Open

Sergio Garcia is optimistic about the future of LIV Golf at the pinnacle of professional golf – despite his move effectively costing him recent chances to play at majors. Just this week Garcia failed to make it through Open qualifying.

Garcia, along with Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, left the PGA Tour to join the LIV setup in 2022. Since then, the Spaniard and his fellow defectors haven’t looked back, as the breakaway league continues to expand its footprint within the sport.

However, just over a year ago, it seemed that Garcia and his colleagues might have a chance to make a surprising return to the PGA Tour. This came after Jay Monahan, the commissioner, announced a framework agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

The agreement was expected to end the hostilities between the PGA Tour and LIV, aligning the two rivals. Over the past 13 months, there has been much speculation about what the deal will mean for the future of the game, with players from both sides weighing in as the deal is yet to be officially finalised.

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Garcia is one of those voices, and he has a message for those doubting the league: LIV isn’t planning on losing steam anytime soon.We’re here to stay for a long time,” he told the Evening Standard earlier this year. “People were thinking this was going to be two or three years and then gone. You’re seeing guys sign through to the late 2020s and maybe even the 2030s.”

Garcia, speaking at the Masters in April, was asked if he felt a divide within the game. He downplayed any hostilities between those who play the game on both sides of the dispute.

“I think the game is in a perfect spot,” he said at Augusta National. “The professional game, maybe it’s a little more separated, mostly because of the media, not so much because of the players. But I think the game itself is in a great spot. I think that we have the most amount of people playing the game, which is great, and people have to realize one thing, that the future of the game isn’t us.

“We’re not the future of the game. Neither me or Rory [McIlroy], no. We’re not the future. We’re the present of the game… I mean, obviously the more togetherness that you get, the better it is for everyone. There’s no doubt about that. But there’s room for everyone. I don’t think that’s a problem at all.

“The same way that I love watching Real Madrid and La Liga, you like to watch the premiership and whoever your team is. Everybody can support whoever they have, and there’s plenty of people to support it.”

Garcia is currently leading Fireballs GC on the LIV circuit, and since joining two years ago has bagged an impressive $22.6 million in prize money.