Sergio Garcia misses first Open in 25 years (but Tiger’s in!)

Sergio Garcia has missed out on his first Open Championship since 1997 after a stumbling finish to a marathon Final Qualifying day at West Lancashire.

The Spaniard posted a five-under opening round 67 on Tuesday morning, roared on by hundreds of fans on the glorious Merseyside links.

But the former Masters champion could not use the bumper crowd as inspiration during a stuttering second round as he slipped down the leaderboard in relatively benign conditions with a one-under 71 to finish on minus six.

Former US Open winner and LIV player Graeme McDowell also missed out, with his second-round birdie blitz coming too late after a level-par opening round.

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Garcia’s playing partner Matthew Jordan, who has been a member at Hoylake since the age of 7, relished the home support 45 minutes up the road at West Lancs.

A stunning morning 65 was followed by a tidy three-under 69 to secure him a dream spot in the Open at his home course.

Tiger Christensen, a supremely talented German amateur partly named after the 15-time major champion, will contend in his first major following his -9 score.

Matt Wallace topped the leaderboard at -11 to secure his place, while Alex Fitzpatrick, the brother of former US Open champion Matt, and South African world no.725 Kyle Barker secured the remaining spots in the Open field.

But the frustration was palpable with Garcia and the large galleries, as the 43-year-old came up just short in his quest to make it to golf’s oldest major for a 25th straight year.

“I haven’t missed many majors since I turned pro in ’99, just one before of Covid and the PGA, and unfortunately, I’ll miss this one,” he told bunkered.co.uk.

“It’s a shame. I felt like I had it early on and I was going nicely. I got a pretty bad break on 7 in the afternoon that stopped my momentum a bit, and it was tough to get going again.

“I gave it everything I had, and unfortunately, it will be a little short. I had many chances, but I didn’t take them.

“I was thinking 8 under might get to a play-off and I was trying to get to 10, but the weather got better, and it played easier.”

🇩🇪Tiger Christensen (5/5) pic.twitter.com/K63veflVYs

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 4, 2023

Garcia made it through a 36-hole shootout in Texas just six weeks ago for the US Open, but he could not repeat that impressive feat during another demanding test.

Asked about his disappointment levels, Garcia added: “If you come here, you put yourself in that situation. You can play well and make it, but you can play not as well and miss it.

“If you’re willing to put yourself in that spot it’s a little bit of a disappointment for sure. I was trying, but unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough.”

It goes without saying that Garcia is a divisive figure, even more so after his move to LIV and the fallout in the 12 months since his defection.

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But there was overwhelming support for Europe’s all-time record points scorer at West Lancs, and there was a sense that those among the unprecedented crowd for this event were just as disappointed with the result as he was.

“I’m sure that a lot of the people who were following me today would’ve loved to have seen me at Hoylake, but hopefully, I’ll be back soon,” he said.

“I’ve always felt very blessed about the love I get, but here in the UK even more. To see the kind of crowds we had for a British Open qualifier, it was pretty impressive.

“I hope they enjoyed it, but I would just have loved to give them a couple more things to cheer for.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 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.