Sergio Garcia Fails to Qualify for Open Championship

Sergio Garcia’s streak of 24 Open Championships will come to an end later this month.

The Spaniard missed out on qualifying for the 151^st Open Championship by one stroke on Tuesday, finishing his 36 holes at West Lancashire Golf Club in England at six under par. He finished tied for sixth, whereas the top five advanced to Royal Liverpool in two weeks for the year’s fourth major.

🚨⛳️🇪🇸 JUST IN: LIV Golf star Sergio Garcia will miss the 2023 Open Championship after finishing T6 in final qualifying.

This is the first @TheOpen played without Sergio since 1997. pic.twitter.com/BPTRSFyKyg

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 4, 2023

Garcia said:

“It’s a shame, but it’s the game. I felt I had it close, in the grasp of my hand, but that’s what it is. If you don’t even come here, you can’t get disappointed because you are not even trying. I was trying, and unfortunately, it just wasn’t good enough.”

He shot five-under-par on the first 18 holes and led at -8 after six holes on the second 18, but he was +2 from that point on.

Sergio Garcia makes birdie on the par 5 2nd hole at West Lancs #theopen pic.twitter.com/VVtSE3487t

— Chris Maguire (@chrismaguire73) July 4, 2023

Garcia had to qualify because, as a member of LIV Golf, he wasn’t accumulating Official World Golf Ranking points. Plus, his five-year exemption into all of the majors after winning the 2017 Masters ran out this year.

The rest of the LIV contingent trying to qualify had mixed results. Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace—the winners of the first two LIV tournaments in its history a year ago—both qualified, while Graeme McDowell, Jason Kokrak, Dean Burmester, and Anirban Lahiri failed to qualify.

The LIV Golf roster will remain in London for their event this coming weekend. After that, players like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and defending Open Champion Cameron Smith will remain in the UK for the final major of 2023.

Cover Image Via Times of India