Sergio Garcia Comes Up Short at British Open Qualifier

The Spaniard had played in 23 consecutive Opens dating to 1999.

MERSEYSIDE, England — Sergio Garcia came to England for his only chance to earn a spot in the 151st British Open at Royal Liverpool and compete in his 25th consecutive Open Championship.

His dream crashed and burned Tuesday on the front nine of the second round at the West Lancashire Golf Club with two bogeys that ultimately moved him from qualifying to missing out by three shots.

“I felt like I had it early on, I was rolling nicely,” Garcia said after a disappointing afternoon. “Got a pretty bad break on seven in the afternoon and kind of stole my momentum a little bit and then it was tough to get going again.”

After shooting a 5-under 67 in the morning session of the 36-hole qualifier, Garcia started quickly with three birdies in the first six holes and at one point in the afternoon was the solo leader at 8 under par, but then the mistake at the 7th happened.

At the 374-yard short par-4, Garcia thought he had driven the green but instead was in a difficult lie in the rough, just 20 yards from the putting surface but on the frontside of a mound with a downhill lie. After chipping over the green, Garcia’s chip back on the green went 20 feet past and the subsequent missed par putt started a downhill slide that he could not fully recover from, making just one birdie over the next 12 holes.

“Still had my chances after that,” Garcia said. “Unfortunately, just didn't take them.”

Since joining LIV Golf last year, Garcia has not earned any world ranking points except in the majors he has played and because he no longer can play in events on the DP World Tour or PGA Tour, where major spots may be earned at certain events like last week’s British Masters, the Spaniard is left with few options to qualify for majors.

The 43-year-old did participate in qualifying for the U.S. Open, making in through and finishing T27 at Los Angeles Country Club. But for the Spaniard, the Open is bigger and means more as he has played in 26 Open Championships including each one since 1999.

He was hoping for another chance to win a Claret Jug that has been in his grasp before. A second-place finish after a playoff loss to Padraig Harrington in 2007 at Carnoustie and a tie for second in 2014 (finishing two shots back of Rory McIlroy at Royal Liverpool) are Garcia's highlights in the Open. 

If Garcia can take anything from Monday at West Lancashire, it's the tremendous amount of support that followed him around 36 holes.

Literally a group of thousands were like a bubble following Garcia, Jamie Donaldson and local professional Matthew Jordan.

With a rush of applause on his first hole at 7:20 a.m. local time, Garcia took it all in and seemingly dispelled the rumor that players that play for LIV Golf are no longer welcome or no longer have the game to compete.

“I've always felt very blessed about the love I get everywhere in the world, but here in the U.K. even more and to see the kind of crowds we had for a British Open qualifier was pretty impressive,” Garcia said. “So, I hope they enjoyed it. I would love to give them a couple more things to cheer for, but was it was really nice.”

Now Garcia makes the trip back down to London to play in the LIV's event this week, then he'll have a well-earned couple weeks off before a stretch of the last five LIV events of the season.

When asked about the possibility of trying to qualify for the 152nd Open at Royal Troon, Garcia said "we'll cross that bridge when we get there.” 

“So, hopefully things will l get better and if I play well, hopefully I can get my ranking back and see where we go from there.”