Sergio Garcia's latest comments about majors and LIV spark war among golf fans

Sergio Garcia has once again implored the chiefs of golf's major championships to open up pathways for LIV Golf players after he claimed his first victory on the rival league. 

Garcia prevailed at Valderrama over the weekend in a playoff over Anirban Lahiri after the Indian missed a two-foot par putt on the 54th hole for the win. 

It was the third time the 2017 Masters champion was involved in a tussle over extra holes on the rival league. 

In the immediate aftermath of his first victory in just under four years, Garcia described the achievement as one of the highlights of his career. 

Garcia told reporters in his winner's news conference that it's extremely difficult to win on LIV. 

"Everyone thought that we're all retired here and there was no competition," he said. 

"I'm practising more than I ever did before at 44, because if I don't I feel like I'm gonna get stuck behind."

Some golf fans on X pointed out that Garcia was on the verge of being left behind on the established tours. 

"Guys like Garcia and Phil [Mickelson] still being competitive on this tour isn't the flex that they think it is," one said. 

Another added: "Not as hard as qualifying for The Open."

This user wrote: "An extra 18 holes might make it even tougher."

New perspective

Garcia also drew a mixed response for his comments about having a new perspective on the major championships. 

Since he joined LIV in 2022, the Spaniard has been forced to go through qualifying to get into the big four. 

Garcia managed to get into the 2024 U.S. Open but missed out on the PGA Championship and this week's Open. 

He is of course exempt at Augusta National. 

Garcia said going through the stresses of qualifying has given him a new perspective on how much he loves playing the big events. 

"You know, I said it at the U.S. Open, that I am so thankful for LIV, and I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or anything like that," he said.  

"[But] I've been very fortunate to play pretty much every single major since the British Open in '99 until 2023. I only missed the Masters because of Covid.

"Even though you realize that the majors are super important and it's what we love to play and stuff, when you get the chance to play in so many in a row, you start forgetting how difficult it actually is to make it into those majors.

"This last year and a half or so, I've realized how difficult it is playing qualifiers and stuff like that. One day you hit two bad shots and you're out."

He added: "It's given me definitely a different perspective on the majors, on how much they mean, on how much harder I'm trying when I'm playing them, and the U.S. Open was a good example of that. 

"I was trying so hard to have a good week and play well and get in the top 10 so then I would qualify for the next year and things like that, and then obviously played the qualifier like 10 days ago for the British Open and just missing out.

"I know even more how hard it is and how important the majors are, and I still want to play as many as I can."

So what about the future?

"Hopefully things get better and we start getting spots coming into some of the majors, but if not, I'll just keep playing qualifiers until my body says enough is enough, I guess."

Watched our latest YouTube video?