DALLAS — A three-putt bogey on Sergio Garcia’s last of 36 holes in the Final Stage U.S. Open Qualifier here on Monday will likely snap his streak of 25 consecutive U.S. Open appearances.
Barring an unlikely USGA exemption for the former Masters champion, who now plays for LIV Golf, he will not be at Oakmont next month. Garcia has recorded five top-10 finishes in the Open, including a T3 in 2005; last year at Pinehurst he tied for 12th.
Coming off four rounds at the PGA Championship, where Garcia finished 67th, he shot a morning 65 at Bent Tree Country Club capped by a 20-foot birdie make on the 18th hole; at that point, the Spaniard was well positioned to earn one of the seven qualifying spots up for grabs. But his form soured in the afternoon, and he shot 71, leaving him, at six under par, one shot out a playoff for an Open spot.
“You have to play good in the afternoon just like the morning, and I didn’t do that,” Garcia said as he walked to the parking lot.
A year ago, Garcia made the Open as the first alternate out of the Dallas qualifier; two years ago, he cruised into the Open, finishing second in Dallas.
After an up-and-down week at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in North Carolina, Garcia flew to Dallas late Sunday night to get back for his early Monday morning starting time at Bent Tree.
Among those earning a spot at Oakmont were two-time PGA Tour winner James Hahn, who will play the Open for the first time in nine years; medalist Rasmus Peterson Neergaard from Denmark; and PGA Tour player Adam Schenk.
Garcia is in pursuit of a spot on the European Cup Ryder Cup team that will face the U.S. at Bethpage Black in September. Helping his cause was a hot start to his season that included a win at LIV Hong Kong in early March. But more recently Garcia has struggled, missing the cut at the Masters and shooting a third-round 79 at the PGA Championship.
“Obviously the way I’m playing, even if Luke [Donald] offered me a pick right now, I would tell him no,” Garcia said at the PGA on Sunday. “So obviously I need to get better.”
“I need to get more where I was just before the Masters. You know, just show myself and show everyone that my game is solid, and it can help Team Europe. It’s as simple as that.”
At Bent Tree on Monday, Garcia doubled down on that assessment, saying, “I just got to play better. I’m not doing it.”
Among the other notables to miss out on qualifying in Dallas were PGA Tour players Cameron Champ, Charlie Hoffman, Joel Dahmen and Austin Eckroat; and Garcia’s LIV stablemates, Abraham Ancer and Talor Gooch.
