Rory McIlroy reveals LIV Golf star who inspired him after lauding breakaway league "hero"

Rory McIlroy has previously been one of LIV Golf's biggest critics, but the Northern Irishman has admitted that one of the league's biggest names is an inspiration

Rory McIlroy has revealed that LIV Golf star Sergio Garcia is one of his inspirations, having labelled his former Ryder Cup teammate a 'hero'.

McIlroy and Garcia have enjoyed a long-lasting relationship, having announced themselves as two of the most important names in European golf. Their friendship soured however in 2022, after Garcia opted to join the likes of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson in moving to LIV Golf.

PGA Tour loyalist McIlroy proved to be one of the biggest critics of the LIV setup, and this thus led to a fallout between the pair, with Garcia even taking aim at his former teammate's lack of maturity over the tour split.

Despite this, both McIlroy and Garcia's relationship, and the former's opinion on the LIV league, has improved slightly, leading to the Northern Irishman speaking highly of the Spaniard ahead of this week's DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. "When Sergio was coming through," he told reporters.

"Especially in the PGA [Championship] in '99 at Medinah running up the fairway, Sergio was my favourite player for a lot of years. Sergio definitely inspired me. Then when I got to playing on tour and getting to play on Ryder Cup teams and stuff with him, it was a dream come true for me to play so closely and to partner with one of my favourite heroes growing up."

Having seemingly made up over the past year, both McIlroy and Garcia still find themselves on opposite side's of the ongoing split within men's professional golf, but with PGA Tour and DP World Tour bosses in talks with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, they could soon be brought back together.

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For Garcia, his aim is to return to the European Ryder Cup fold alongside McIlroy, having announced himself as the event's most prolific points scorer during his career. Speaking in September, Team Europe captain Luke Donald revealed he had spoken with the Spaniard over a potential return.

"Yeah we chatted on the phone a couple of weeks ago," Donald said of Garcia. "He is certainly very interested in doing that. He understands everything that is involved, and again, the decision has to go to him whether he is prepared to do all that, but certainly we have had that discussion yes."

If he is to do that the Spaniard will be required to reapply for his DP World Tour membership and pay off any sanctions he owes to the Wentworth-based circuit for competing in 'conflicting' LIV events. So far, Garcia has been reluctant to comply to the Tour rules, but Donald has insisted there will be no moving of the goalposts.

"The DP World Tour's policy has been very consistent," the former world No. 1 claimed. "It really is the same as it was in Rome. You have to be a member of the European Tour and born in Europe, and if you fulfil the regulations and rules the DP World Tour set then you are eligible. There are a bunch of LIV guys that are eligible so I can pick them at will."