Rory McIlroy tells Sergio Garcia 'let course be your sanctuary' after being unimpressed by close friend's antics

Rory McIlroy has warned Sergio Garcia not to hide behind his nationality or his problems away from the course to try to excuse the petulance in purposefully damaging greens at the Saudi Arabia International earlier this month.

On Wednesday, Garcia finally faced the media following a fortnight’s silence after being disqualified from the European Tour event for “serious misconduct”. He apologised - as he had already via a statement and then a social media post - but also revealed that  “emotional personal news” was partly responsible for a meltdown unprecedented in the sport’s top-flight. As well as that, the 39-year-old referenced his fiery Spanish temperament.

But McIlroy, a close friend of Garcia’s, is not prepared to accept these as mitigating factors. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from - it’s not acceptable,” McIlroy said. “And if you’ve got stuff bothering you, let the course be your sanctuary. I’ve had to deal with that in the past.”

In 2014 he went through a high-profile break-up with tennis player Caroline Wozniacki but still managed to win the BMW PGA Championship a week after he called off the wedding. Garcia has yet to reveal the issues which he claims are going on in the background.

The feeling within the locker-room is that this must be Garcia’s last chance. The 2017 Masters champion has mired himself in controversy on several occasions.. “We always think he gets over it, but there’s no doubt he’s out of line behaving like that,” Adam Scott, another close friend, told AP.

Here at the Genesis Open at Riviera, Garcia is appearing his first event since Saudi Arabia. But on the first day after just 45 minutes of morning action, the persistent downpours caused a suspension. Play resumed at 1.40pm with the PGA Tour resetting the scores. It was the first time in six years the Tour had taken this unusual move.

Half of the field managed to start their tournaments before play was called due to darkness. Jordan Spieth was sharing the lead on five-under alongside Korean Sunghoon Khan, with six and four holes left respectively.

England’s Paul Casey was on one-under with eight holes remaining, while Tiger Woods and McIlroy, playing in the same group will start on Friday.

Play resumes at 7am and if the weather holds Woods and McIlroy will be those scheduled now to complete 36 holes in a day. The organisers are still hoping for a Sunday finish.