For the first time since 1999, the U.S. Open will go on without Sergio Garcia.
The 45-year-old Spaniard failed to advance to next month's U.S. Open via 36-hole final qualifying Monday in Dallas, shooting 65-71 for a 6-under total. Seven players finished at 7 under and played in a playoff for the final spot behind six other qualifiers.
Garcia burst into the spotlight in 1999 at age 19 when he battled Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship at Medinah, finishing second by a shot. The next year he played in the U.S. Open, finishing T46, beginning a streak of appearances that continued for 25 years, through last year.
Over those 25 Opens he made 20 cuts and had five top-10 finishes with a best of T3 in 2005, when he finished five shots behind winner Michael Campbell at Pinehurst.
As a member of LIV Golf, Garcia—ranked No. 396 in the Official World Golf Ranking—needed to advance from qualifying in order to play in the U.S. Open and he made it through last year for his 25th appearance, finishing T12 at Pinehurst. The 2017 Masters champion finished T67 Sunday at the PGA Championship and then flew to Dallas, his hometown, for the qualifier at Bent Tree Country Club.
The medalist there was Rasmus Neergard Petersen of Denmark, a 25-year-old who played at Oklahoma State and made his first major start last week at Quail Hollow, missing the cut. He shot 66-65, PGA Tour players Adam Schenk and James Hahn finished one shot back and qualified. Also among the six qualifiers who avoided the playoff was LIV golfer Carlos Ortiz.
Three final qualifiers in all were held Monday, with the others in England and Japan.
In England, DP World Tour member Jordan Smith was the medalist at 10 under, with the top eight finishers qualifying. Also qualifying was Italy’s Eduardo Molinari, 44, a former European Ryder Cup member.
Three spots were awarded in the Japan qualifier, with LIV golfer Jinichiro Kuzuma among the players advancing along with Scott Vincent, a LIV player in the league’s first three years who now primarily plays the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
Ten more final qualifiers will be held on June 2 in what the United States Golf Association calls “Golf’s Longest Day.”
The U.S. Open is June 12-15 at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sergio Garcia Fails to Qualify for U.S. Open, Ending 25-Year Streak.
