3 LIV stars qualify for The Open (but Sergio Garcia suffers painful blow)

Sergio Garcia suffered a bitter blow in his pursuit of a place at Royal Portrush for this year’s Open Championship.

The Spaniard was one of 20 LIV players in the field at this week’s International Series event on the Asian Tour in Macau, fighting for one of three qualifying spots into The Open.

But despite an impressive five-under 65 in the final round at the Macau Golf and Country Club, Garcia ultimately finished just one shot shy of a spot in golf’s oldest major.

The former Masters champion agonisingly missed a three-foot birdie attempt on his final hole which would have punched his ticket to Portrush.

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Instead, it was tournament winner Carlos Ortiz, Patrick Reed and Jason Kokrak who claimed the coveted Open places.

Ortiz was level with Reed heading into the final round, but pulled away with a sublime 64 to finish on 22-under, three shots ahead of his American playing partner.

The Mexican said he was “overjoyed” to have made the Open, having claimed his second International Series title after last year’s win in Oman.

Reed, meanwhile, had mixed emotions after missing out on the title.

“A little frustrating,” Reed said. “I didn’t make many putts. Had the case of lip outs for two days. So that’s unfortunate. When you do something like that, it’s just hard to win golf tournaments.

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“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the win. But anytime you can play bogey-free on Sundays, it’s always positive. To go and finish solo second, get at spot in The Open, it means a lot.”

Kokrak, the American who plays on Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC LIV team, claimed the final spot after closing one shot ahead of Garcia.

Had Garcia nailed his short one on the 18th, however, he would have claimed the final qualifying spot due to his higher world ranking.

As it is, Garcia may well need to head back to Final Qualifying, the 36-hole marathon where he has just fallen short in both 2023 and 2024.

Before that, however, Garcia will have his chance to rise up the rankings at next month’s Masters, which will be the 45-year-old’s 100th major start.

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.