Sergio García missed out on playing in his 100th major after a dramatic and fractious day of final qualifying for this month’s Open Championship.
The Spaniard, 44, has long divided opinion and more so since his departure to LIV Golf, but he is still a big draw and a large crowd followed him around the course at West Lancashire Golf Club. He ultimately missed out by two strokes and was disgruntled after being put on the clock by officials.
“You’re right, we’re always wrong,” García shouted at two officials. He felt the decision was unfair given that the hundreds of people watching his group had made it hard to move between holes, and he blamed the warning for a number of dropped shots.
“The marshalls were doing as good a job as they could do but we had to stop pretty much on every tee for two or three minutes because people were walking on the fairways,” he said afterwards.
“I don’t think they took that into account and that was unfortunate as it made us rush and on a day like today, where the conditions are so tricky, you might need a little bit of extra time. Because of that I made a couple of bogeys which might have cost me getting to [Royal] Troon.”
García, the 2017 Masters champion, has fallen down the rankings because of LIV Golf being ignored by the Official World Golf Ranking, and so this was his only route into the Open at Troon.
“It would’ve been a dream come true to make the Open my 100th major because I love the Open and playing in the UK,” he said. “Since I joined LIV I think it was a great thing for me as I realised I was so fortunate to play so many majors for so many years in a row without really missing any.”
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García showed he still has some old magic in his locker but his disappointment was matched by the delight of others. Justin Rose grabbed one of the places available at Burnham Barrow in Somerset to prolong his record of playing in every Open since 2007, other than when he was injured in 2022. He finished tied for first with compatriot Dominic Clemons.
Other qualifiers included Sam Horsfield and Matthew Southgate. “I don’t want to sound brash or arrogant, but I have such a big relationship with the Open,” the latter said. “I’ve already lost the plot crying today. I have such a heavy connection to the Open because of my dad. He took me to every Open from 1999 until I played my first Open in 2014.”
