Despite missing a chance to qualify for this month’s Open Championship, Sergio Garcia has many reasons to be excited about the LIV Golf schedule.
Although, he missed out on qualifying for this month’s Open Championship, Sergio Garcia is still optimistic about LIV Golf’s upcoming European swing.
Due to his decline in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) since joining LIV Golf, Garcia has had no choice but to participate in major qualifying events for both the US Open and Open Championship this season. Despite attempting to secure a spot at Pinehurst No. 2 through qualifying rounds last month, he fell short during a seven-for-six playoff competition.
In the challenging conditions of a 36-hole round at West Lancashire Golf Club this week, the ex-Masters winner narrowly missed securing one of four available spots by only two shots.
Despite the near-miss on the Wirral, Garcia is eagerly anticipating his upcoming weeks with LIV as they make their way to Europe for the first leg of their trip; which will take place in his native Spain at Real Club Valderrama. “Valderrama has always been my favorite course worldwide and I am thrilled to see what we can achieve there”, he expressed enthusiastically.
Naturally, he will be absent from The Open in a week’s time. However, towards the end of July, he’ll return to British territory for LIV Golf’s inaugural visit to JCB Country Club–an incredibly exclusive venue. “I’ve heard fantastic things about JCB and though I haven’t played there before, I’m really looking forward to it,” stated the Fireballs’ captain.
It would be great to return and perform for the British spectators. Although I had hoped to extend my streak by another week, life doesn’t always go according to plan. However, perseverance is key; one must persist and give their all. Garcia garnered a devoted following of hundreds at West Lancashire during his 36-hole outing – he clearly struck a chord with fans.
However, this substantial support posed a problem when Garcia voiced his concern about the absence of crowd control and received a slow play warning from officials. He noted that having 2,000 people following them with no ropes or barriers was an issue.
Despite their best efforts, the marshals were unable to prevent frequent interruptions during our tee shots. We had to stop for two or three minutes at nearly every tee because people continued walking in front of us on both the fairway and tee area. It was clear that we couldn’t hit our balls without risking injuring someone.”
Unfortunately, they didn’t consider the circumstances which resulted in us having to rush. Particularly on a day like today where conditions are challenging and necessitate extra time now and then, it wasn’t helpful. Consequently, I incurred some bogeys that could potentially prevent me from making my way to Troon.
