Sergio Garcia Takes a Shot at Viewership Numbers After Failing to Qualify for the Open Championship

Sergio Garcia will not be at Royal Troon next week to compete in what would have been his 100th major, but he did fire a parting shot at the R&A, the group that puts on the Open Championship.

A fan had posted on X about Garcia missing out in final qualifying last week, and the 2017 Masters winner responded:

😎 I like this idea. Viewership down each year – all I want is the opportunity to play. 99 majors down, 2 as an amateur. I’m in it for the long haul! https://t.co/fzxXDOGgiC

— Sergio Garcia (@TheSergioGarcia) July 8, 2024

It’s true that last year’s viewership numbers – the first British Open without Garcia – were down. Sunday’s final round was the lowest since 2014, but that likely has more to do with the fact that Brian Harmon ran away and hid from the rest of the field in a comfy six-stroke victory. 

A large gallery following Garcia around at West Lancashire Golf Club in Liverpool, England, last week led to Garcia getting put on the clock for slow play. 

Garcia said after tying for sixth, missing out on the final qualifying spot by two places:

“The marshals were trying to do the best job they could do, but obviously, we had to stop pretty much on every tee for two to three minutes to hit our tee shots because people were walking in front of the tee and on the fairway…Unless we wanted to start hitting people, we couldn’t hit. I don’t think they took that into account, and that was unfortunate. It made us rush.”

Abraham Ancer and Sam Horsfield were LIV Golf members who did qualify. Garcia will tee it up this weekend in his home country as LIV visits Valderrama, one of Spain’s most famous courses.

Cover Image via Golf Digest