For the first time this century, the U.S. Open will almost certainly take place without Sergio Garcia.
Garcia failed to earn a spot in the major championship on Monday at a local qualifier in Dallas. That means that, barring some sort of late special exemption, Garcia will now miss out on the U.S. Open for the first time since 1999.
Advertisement
Garcia bogeyed his final hole in a 36-hole qualifier in Dallas on Monday afternoon, which ended up costing him a spot in a 7-for-1 playoff. Garcia three putted on the last green, too. He ended up shooting a 71 in his second round, which brought him to 6-under on the day.
“You have to play good in the afternoon just like in the morning, and I didn’t do that,” Garcia said on his way to the parking lot, via .
James Hahn, Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson and Adam Schenk also earned spots out of the qualifier, along with a pair of amateurs, LIV Golf’s Carlos Ortiz and Johnny Keefer. Other notable names who missed the mark in Dallas include Cameron Champ, Charlie Hoffman, Joel Dahmen, Austin Eckroat, Abraham Ancer and Talor Gooch.
The U.S. Open is set to start on June 12 at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh.
What’s next for Sergio Garcia?
Garcia is undoubtedly one of the better Spanish golfers in history. He won 11 times on the PGA Tour, including both at The Players Championship and the Masters — which marked his first and only major championship title — and he’s won 16 times on the DP World Tour. He’s climbed as high as No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings, though that’s plummeted since he joined LIV Golf.
Advertisement
Garcia missed the cut at the Masters last month, which marked his sixth cut in his last seven starts at Augusta National. He finished T67 at the PGA Championship last week in North Carolina, too.
Garcia has been striving to earn a spot on the European Ryder Cup team for this fall, which is something he’s been a mainstay on since he turned pro in 1999. Garcia has played on 10 different European Ryder Cup teams and he’s earned more points than any other European player in the event’s history.
But, with his current play and limited opportunities to earn points on LIV Golf, Garcia will only make the team if captain Luke Donald selects him. But, after how he played at Quail Hollow Club last week, Garcia isn’t interested.
“Obviously the way I’m playing, even if Luke offered me a pick right now, I would tell him no,” Garcia said Sunday, . “So obviously I need to get better. I need to get more where I was just before the Masters. You know, just show myself and show everyone that my game is solid, and it can help team Europe. It’s as simple as that.”
Garcia backed that up on Monday night, too.
“I just got to play better,” he said. “I’m not doing it.”
Read the full article here