AUGUSTA, Ga. – After more than 20 years with the same manager, Sergio Garcia has made a change.
Garcia’s decision to part ways with Carlos Rodriguez and Irek Myskow is about as stunning a player-agent split other than if Tiger Woods moved on from Mark Steinberg, but it turns out there is good reason. The change, which went into effect a couple of months ago, was made to avoid any conflict of interest due to their various involvements in different LIV teams, said Angela Garcia, Sergio’s wife.
“Carlos Rodriguez is a wonderful guy and we have a wonderful relationship. But he’s now the general manager of Torque, so it’s a conflict of interest,” she said.
Torque is a LIV team headlined by Joaquin Niemann, another client of Rodriguez, who is a longtime agent with the agency GSE. (Carlos Ortiz, Sebastian Munoz and Mito Pereira, fellow clients of Rodriguez, make up the remainder of the team.) Likewise, Garcia deemed it was inappropriate for Myskow to represent Garcia due to his role as the general manager of Fireballs, the team Garcia owns a stake in and serves as captain.
There were some rumors at the Masters that Angela had stepped into the role of managing her husband’s career, but the former Golf Channel broadcaster was quick to state that was false. Stepping into manage Sergio’s affairs is Andrew DiLallo, who has a background in sports, including as senior vice president of sporting operations for Austin FC and had been working for the Fireballs team. He is based in Garcia’s hometown of Austin.
“He’s a great guy,” Angela said. “You’d love him if you came to a LIV event and met him.”
Asked about the change in his relationship with Sergio, Rodriguez said on Thursday, “It’s just something personal, so I don’t want to talk about it.” On Friday, he added, “We are still very close and I talk to the family all the time.”
Angela added: “We have a great relationship with Carlos and Erik and gave them both big hugs this week. We’re just a big happy family on LIV. It’s nothing other than it’s a conflict of interest and we want to do the right thing.”
According to the website Spotrac, Garcia, 45, earned more than $45 million during his career on the PGA Tour. He has earned $38 million on LIV Golf, including more than $6 million in individual earnings this season, since joining the new league in 2019.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Sergio Garcia splits from manager
