Sergio Garcia’s quest to play in his 25th consecutive Open Championship came to an end on Tuesday when he failed to qualify for his fourth major tournament of the season.
Playing qualifiers at West Lancashire Golf Club, Garcia shot a 5-under 67 in the morning round of the 36-hole competition. But after leading by 8 under three birdies pursuing the first six holes of the second round, Garcia couldn’t keep up the pace.
Garcia, 43, hit his drive on the par-4 seventh hole and ended up bogeying his way to a 71 and a cumulative 6-less.
He finished tied for sixth after 36 holes, with only the top five qualifying for The Open, which begins on July 20 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Merseyside, England.
“I haven’t really missed many majors since turning pro in 1999, just one because of COVID and the PGA a couple of months ago and unfortunately I’m going to miss this one,” García said.
“It’s a shame but it’s the game. I felt close, within reach, but that’s what it is. If you don’t come here, you won’t be disappointed you’re not even trying. I was trying and unfortunately it just wasn’t good enough.”
Garcia, a member of the LIV Golf League, had to go through qualifying because he couldn’t earn world ranking points that lead to automatic seats in the majors.
He was awarded a master’s degree in 2017 for his only major title. He has 10 top-10 finishes at The Open, finishing runner-up in 2014 behind Rory McIlroy at Royal Liverpool and losing in a playoff in 2007 to Padraig Harrington at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland.
Garcia will remain in England to play this weekend’s LIV London event.
On Tuesday, he finished 5 shots behind leader Matt Wallace of England. Matthew Jordan, a member of the Royal Liverpool Club, Kyle Parker from South Africa, England’s Alex Fitzpatrick – younger brother of 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick – and German amateur Tiger Christensen also qualified.
“Playing with my brother Matt in a major would be amazing,” said Alex Fitzpatrick. “I’ve never played in one before and I was just asking people last week what it felt like to play in one, so it’s great to be able to experience it now.”
Matt Fitzpatrick took to social media to pay tribute to his brother.
10 years ago, yesterday I qualified for The Open for the first time. Today my brother is doing the exact same thing!! I couldn’t be more proud and can’t wait to play a major tournament with him! pic.twitter.com/eKLEt0Elzq
– Matt Fitzpatrick (@MattFitz94) July 4, 2023
Two full-time LIV Golf members hit the field by qualifying finalists at another location, Royal Porthcawl in Wales: South Africans Branden Grace and Char Schwartzl. Grace was the first player to shoot a round of 62 in a major at the 2017 Open Championship, and Schwartzell won the Masters in 2011.
“Being an international player, the World Open is huge,” Schwartzell said. “I don’t want to put one in front of the others but I feel The Open and Augusta go hand in hand in terms of prestige.”
Among the LIV players who failed to qualify were Graeme McDowell, Anirban Lahiri, Jason Kokrak and Dean Burmester.
Information from Reuters and the Associated Press is used in this report.