Sergio Garcia was the star attraction at West Lancs in Final Qualifying but wasn’t able to claim one on the five spots up for grabs to miss out on The Open for the first time since 1997.
The Spaniard, who finished 2nd to Padraig Harrington in 2007 at Carnoustie, shot a 36-hole total of six-under par to come up three shy of the qualification spots. The LIV Golfer shot rounds of 67 and 71 to miss out, with his fellow LIV player and Ryder Cupper Graeme McDowell also not advancing at four-under.
Garcia was five-under after 18 holes and primed to qualify but he was overtaken in the afternoon with his one-under 71.
The five spots went to Matt Wallace (-11), Matthew Jordan (-10), Kyle Barker (-10), Alex Fitzpatrick (-9) and amateur Tiger Christensen (-9).
Garcia attracted big crowds at West Lancs
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Garcia has played in every Open since 1998 but will be watching on from the sidelines this year.
“Obviously I’m a little disappointed right now, but that’s that’s the game of golf, you know,” Garcia told Sky Sports. You can’t take things for granted. I’m very thankful that I’ve been able to play, I think it’s 26, or 27 Open Championships. That’s not an easy task to achieve and you know, it shows so, you know, I wanted to to keep that run going but unfortunately I couldn’t do it today.
“I love I love the game of golf. I love playing, I love competing, I love playing Majors. It doesn’t matter if you play them well or not but just to be a part of them it’s always a treat and I’ve been very fortunate to play many, many Majors throughout my career so you know that’s something that you have to give it the importance that it has.”
It’s the second time in less than a month that he has attempted to qualify for a Major, after making it through qualifying in Texas last month to play in his 24th consecutive US Open.
The 2017 Masters champion did miss the PGA Championship this year, though, meaning he will have played in fewer than three Majors for the first time since 1998.
He has ten top-10s in The Open, most notably when his putt to win in 2007 lipped out and he lost to Padraig Harrington in a playoff at Carnoustie. He was also T5th at Royal Liverpool in 2006 and T2nd again at Hoylake in 2014, when Rory McIlroy won the Claret Jug.
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