Sergio Garcia, after complaining to officials for being put on the clock for slow play in his final qualifier for the Open Championship, again failed to make the field for the year’s final major Tuesday.
The 44-year-old member of LIV Golf came up two strokes short after shooting 71 and 70 over two rounds at Liverpool’s West Lancashire Golf Club, one of four sites hosting final qualifying Tuesday. His score of 3 under tied for sixth, with only four advancing from West Lancashire.
“I come here and I try my hardest to get into The Open,” Garcia said. “It would be nice to make The Open my 100th major, but it was tough conditions and sometimes things don’t go your way. … I tried everything that I could and that’s all I can ask myself for.”
Garcia was caught on video complaining to R&A rules officials after being put on the clock, saying he was being slowed down by fans on the property.
“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,” Garcia said.
“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.”
At one point, Garcia was heard telling officials, “It’s OK, don’t worry. You’re always right, we’re wrong.”
Amateur Matthew Dodd-Berry and Sam Horsfield, both of England, shot 6 under, and will be joined at The Open by England’s Daniel Brown and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura, who finished 5 under.
Veteran Englishman Justin Rose and LIV Golf’s Abraham Ancer were the notable golfers to make the final field at Burnham & Berrow in Somerset. LIV Golf’s Anirban Lahiri did not advance.
Garcia has never won The Open. He came closest when he lost to Ireland’s Padraig Harrington in a playoff in 2007; he later tied for second in 2014. Garcia’s lone major win was the 2017 Masters.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.
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