LIV GOLF INVITATIONAL SERIES: LONDON

June 9, 2022

Sergio Garcia

Centurion Club

Quick Quotes

Q. A statement today from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, he's gone with the strongest possible sanctions. Do you think that's the right approach?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, I can't speak for him. Obviously I'm not a member of the PGA TOUR. I resigned about a week and a half ago.

Q. Are you banned anyway?

SERGIO GARCÍA: No, I'm not banned because I'm not a member of it.

Q. Not according to Jay Monahan?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Well he received my letter. That's up to him. It doesn't bother me. I'm very happy where I am and I'm excited. I'm excited for this tour. I thought that today was a great day to start, and that's what I'm going to focus. Like I said, I resigned a week and a half ago, so whatever the PGA TOUR says doesn't -- doesn't go with me because I'm not a member.

Q. You just want to focus on the golf?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Yes.

Q. Any golfer can play where they want to?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I resigned because I didn't want to get into my legal battles. I'm very happy to be here for many reasons. It's going to allow me to do what I love, which is playing golf. It's going to allow me to see my family more, spend more time with my kids, 4 and 2, spend as much time as I can, and I make a good living doing it. For me it's a win/win. I'm excited for what's coming. Excited to finally be here playing and see the reaction of the people and the players and everything. So it's very exciting.

Q. Are you surprised that the tour made that statement today?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Am I surprised? I don't know. Maybe a little bit. But it doesn't really matter.

Q. Did you have any clue that it was coming today?

SERGIO GARCÍA: No. Not at all.

Q. Even though you know longer are a member, there was a thought that perhaps you could have taken sponsor's exemption if there was an event you wanted to play and he ruled that out, too, not even those. Are surprised by that?

SERGIO GARCÍA: That's his decision. There's nothing I can do. If that's the way he wants to go, that's the way he wants to go. So I can't really -- I can't really speak for him. If you have any questions, you should ask him.

Q. How is your season panning out now? How many events do you see yourself playing? All eight year and what else are you doing, majors?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Yeah, obviously majors. You know, if nothing happens, hopefully a couple European Tour events here and there. I would love to do that and keep my membership there. And obviously the LIV events, and just enjoy time with the family and watch them grow and play with them.

Q. Do you regret your decision based on what happened today?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Not at all.

Q. What do you think about the LIV statement that the PGA TOUR are being vindictive --

SERGIO GARCÍA: I'm not going to go that way out there.

Q. Once you got out there, the first couple shots did it seem like any other professional golf tournament, back in that sort of mode?

SERGIO GARCIA: Definitely. Don't get me wrong, this is the type of golf course that you need to be focused on what you're doing. It's not an easy golf course. You have to drive the ball very, very well. It's very tight. And you know, I missed -- I just missed two drives, and I paid heavily for it.

So obviously it's something that you have to be very focused on, and it's a very solid golf course.

Q. In terms of how this looks for the sport, this kind of power struggle that seems to be going on, do you think it's sad, seeing this in-fighting?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Yeah, it would be nice for everyone to get along but unfortunately some don't want to, and we've got to live with that. But like I said, I'm focused on where I am, and I'm very happy with my decision. You know, we are going to enjoy it as much as we can. We're going to play as hard as we can and help grow the game, and you know, that's one of the main goals.

Q. Why haven't you resigned your European Tour membership?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Why haven't I? Because I would like to still be a member.

Q. Will you still take part in The Ryder Cup?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Definitely. First of all, I'm European, I love the European Tour. I played it for 23 years. Even though I played on the PGA TOUR, I always made sure that I kept my membership in Europe because I love The European Tour, and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to stay a member of the European Tour.

And obviously we're going to have to wait and see what the European Tour does. But I definitely would like to keep my membership there, play at least my minimum, and you know, get my -- as good a chance as I can to make The Ryder Cup Team because I love that event. But I guess we'll see. We'll wait and see what happens over there.

Q. What happened with the PGA TOUR, is this what you saw coming?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Yeah, mainly because I don't want to get any legal battles with anyone. I think on my perspective, I don't think that's good energy for anyone, and you know, I don't want to do that. So you know, trying to get anything from it doesn't help me or doesn't bother me. So I'd rather -- and also, to be totally honest, I wasn't going to be able to play 15, anyway. So I was never going to be able to be a member.

So no matter what I did, because I'm doing this to play less so I can be more with my family, not to play more. No matter what, it was a no-deal for me. No-brainer.

Q. Where else can you play apart from this tour?

SERGIO GARCÍA: You must have not been here. I'm obviously planning on trying to keep my membership in Europe. So you know, it will be nice to be able to do that.

Q. Is that going to be enough, just those two?

SERGIO GARCÍA: Those two tours? Yeah. That's plenty. Those two and hopefully the majors. You're already playing 20, 22 events. It's a great schedule and very healthy.