The Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland is now less than three weeks away.
The field for the final major on the calendar is almost set, with all the best players, from Scottie Scheffler to Bryson DeChambeau.
And one high-profile major winner finally qualified for the tournament after LIV Golf Dallas concluded on Sunday evening.
Patrick Reed won via a playoff at Maridoe Golf Club, but another player confirmed his place at Royal Portrush.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/R&A/R&A via Getty ImagesSergio Garcia qualifies for the Open Championship next month
Sergio Garcia is one of the most prominent names in European golf and continues to play at an excellent level at 45 years old.
If he were still on the PGA Tour, he would easily qualify for every major championship, but competing on LIV makes it significantly tougher.
However, Garcia’s impressive performances on the tour recently mean he’s in the top five in the season standings, which happens to be one of the criteria for an Open exemption.
“It’s going to be my second time playing at Royal Portrush, and it’s obviously nice,” Garcia said immediately after learning his fate.
“It’s one of the goals that you have at the beginning of the year, to try to play as many majors as you can with the limitations that we get.
“I didn’t help myself very much the last three months, but I’m glad that I got enough work done in the first third of the year, I guess, in the first part of the season. I’m excited about it, and hopefully I’ll play well.”
Photo by Al Chang/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images
Garcia did not have his A-game at LIV Golf Dallas. He finished nine shots off the lead on three over par.
The only positives were that he played well in the final round (-3) and nobody overtook him in the standings, except for Reed, who had already qualified for The Open.
“Yeah, obviously it was nice,” Garcia added. “It’s been tough because I feel like I played a little bit better this week than I have in the last couple of months.
“But both of my first rounds, I finished terribly. I bogeyed three out of the last four in the first round, and I shot 6-over in the last seven holes yesterday.
“So obviously I knew that I was putting myself in a tough spot, and this course is not playing easy, but I was able to play a little bit better today.
“Drove the ball better, hit a few more greens, and I was able to make a couple of putts here and there that were important.”