Sergio Garcia has finished second at the Open twice and is looking to get the Claret pitcher. Photo: Getty Images/Richard Heathcote
Sergio Garcia reached the final qualification of the Open Championship next week. The Ryder Cup scoring record holder will take his place along with 287 other contenders — a mixture of dreamy amateurs and low-ranked professionals — who will try to win one of 16 places offered by Hoylake.
However, Telegraph Sport has also learned that Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter — two other Ryder Cup legends who are members of the LIV Golf League — will not be in the draw when it is announced on Tuesday, with the veterans opting to skip the 36th. stage. shootout with a hole. This means Westwood will miss his first Open in 28 years.
Recently, Westwood was banned from the Senior Open — a week after Hoylake next month — due to having outstanding fines ahead of the World Tour A DP of over £800,000 for the LIV tournament, although the former world No. 1 maintains that since he has retired from the tour, he is not required to pay the financial penalty.
R&A is jointly controlled by the Senior Open with the Tour, but it is unknown if Westwood's decision not to participate in the Open qualifier was due to this exception.
Garcia's 2017 Masters exemption expired last year, dropping to 209th in the world rankings, an LIV golfer is at risk of missing out on his first British Major in over a quarter of a century.
But despite playing in the £20m LIV this week in Valderrama and then next week's £20m in St Albans, the 43-year-old will compete next Tuesday. Garcia has never had to go through the hell of golf before to qualify for a major, in which he first appeared in 1996 when he was 16.
Last month, Garcia made his 24th straight start at the US Open, earning a spot in the final qualifier for that major in Dallas. He finished with a draw in 27th place. Garcia has never made a secret of his desire to lift the claret pitcher, finishing second twice, most recently in 2014 when Wirral Links last hosted.
“I love this championship and these competitions. very, very many people,” he said after last year’s tournament. «I've been close a few times, but sometimes you don't get what you want or want.»
Since the PGA Tour and DP World Tour's merger with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund was announced, hostility has been , apparently subsided, despite the treatment of Westwood. Garcia and Rory McIlroy fell out after the Spaniard fled the ship, but they've been texting since then.
Garcia stressed his desire to represent Europe again in the September match, but after leaving during the DP World Tour he is not eligible to be part of Luke Donald's team in Rome.
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