Padraig Harrington has revealed that he and Sergio Garcia have buried the hatchet after the Irishman’s comments in the wake of Garcia’s major breakthrough at Augusta.
The pair had a strained relationship after Garcia lost out to the Dubliner in a playoff at the 2007 Open Championship, but that all changed after meeting at Rory McIlroy’s wedding at Co Mayo this weekend.
‘Sergio and I are on a much better footing,’ Harrington said in quotes reported by the BBC.
‘We’ve had a chat, because obviously there was a bit of an elephant in the room about what I said.
‘I’ve got to say, Sergio made it very easy. He was exceptionally good about it. He already was well-informed, which was nice.
‘We have decided that we will look, going forward, at our similarities and the good in each of us rather than any other way.’
What Harrington said:
‘I gave him every out I possibly could at the 2007 Open,’ Harrington told Irish radio RTE 2fm.
‘I was as polite as I could, and as generous as I could be. But he was a very sore loser, and he continued to be a very sore loser. So clearly after that, we had a very sticky wicket I’d say.’
Despite a decade passing and a number of Ryder Cup appearances together, the pair have endured a frosty relationship until now …
‘We say hello to each other every day we meet, but it’s with gritted teeth, there’s no doubt about it.’
