Garcia posted a 71 and a 70 in his two rounds on Tuesday in England at one of the four qualifying spots for the final major championship of the season. That brought him to 3-under on the day and into a T6 finish, though he was two shots shy of earning one of the four bids available for the British Open.
Garcia got into it with R&A officials at one point on the eighth fairway during his first round after receiving a warning for slow play, something that was apparently happening all morning. Garcia said he had to repeatedly wait for fans to get out of the way, which slowed his group down.
While cameras weren’t on him during the entire round, the scene as he walked up to the 18th green was very chaotic for a golf tournament.
Garcia still came up short. England’s Sam Horsfield and amateur Matthew Dodd-Berry each shot 6-under to win the qualifier and earn a spot in the major. Daniel Brown and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura tied for third at 5-under to take the final two spots.
Garcia has won 11 times in his career on the PGA Tour before he made the jump to LIV Golf.
Garcia just barely made it into the U.S. Open last month as an alternate. The British Open would have been his 100th career major. He’s come close to winning the British Open twice in his career, first in 2007 when he fell to Padraig Harrington in a playoff, and again in 2014 when he finished in second behind Rory McIlroy.
Justin Rose and Abraham Ancer were the two other big LIV Golf members who earned a spot in the British Open through a qualifier on Tuesday.
The British Open will kick off at Royal Troon on July 18. Only 10 spots in the field remain, including two from the John Deere Classic this week on the PGA Tour and three from the Scottish Open next week.
