SERGIO GARCIA FINDS RARE SILVER LINING AFTER OPEN QUALIFYING HEARTBREAK THANKS TO LIV GOLF

Sergio Garcia still has plenty to be excited about on the golf course this month, despite agonizingly missing out on qualifying for the British Open at Royal Troon.

Having slipped down the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) on the back of his move to LIV Golf, Garcia has been forced to turn to Final Qualifying of both the British and U.S. Opens, but has failed to make the grade this season. The former Masters champion missed out in qualifying on U.S. soil after losing out in a seven-for-six playoff.

A similar fate followed him in the United Kingdom on Thursday, after Garcia fell two shots short of earning one of the four vacant spots for the Open Championship whilst competing at West Lancashire Golf Club.

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The former PGA Tour member was unsurprisingly downbeat in the aftermath of his near-miss but did admit it was not all bad. His focus instead will be returning to his native Spain with the LIV setup competing at the iconic Real Club Valderrama next week, a course that is close to the heart of Garcia.

"Obviously Valderrama is my favorite golf course in the world and I am always really excited to go there and see what the Fireballs can do," Garcia said at West Lancashire after looking at the positives following his qualifying disappointment. He will of course sit out the Open Championship a week later, before returning to the course on European soil for LIV's UK event.

Having spent two years at Centurion Golf Club, the breakaway league will head to the ultra-exclusive JCB Country Club, another test Garcia is looking forward to in an exciting Euro swing for the LIV league. JCB I have heard great things about it. I have never played it but I am excited about it.

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"To be able to come back and play in front of the British crowd. I would love to have made it three weeks in a row but unfortunately, that is the way life is and you have just gotta keep grinding and work hard.” Garcia appears to be a fan favorite among British golf fans, having drawn in a hefty crowd for his qualifier this week.

This large following did come with some implications though, after the Spaniard complained mid-round about the control of the crowd having been issued a slow-play warning by officials. "When you have 2,000 people following us with no ropes, nothing," he commented.

The marshals were trying to do the best job they could do but obviously, we had to stop pretty much on every tee for two to three minutes to hit our tee shots because people were walking in front of the tee and on the fairway. Unless we wanted to start hitting people we couldn't hit.

"I don't think they took that into account and that was unfortunate. It made us rush. On a day like today when the conditions are so tricky and you might need a little bit of extra time here and there it doesn't help out. Because of that, I made a couple of bogeys that might cost me getting to Troon."

2024-07-04T10:41:28Z dg43tfdfdgfd