Sergio Garcia has suffered his fair share of Open Championship heartache over the last three decades and on Sunday the two-time runner-up penned a new painful chapter in this torrid story of close calls.
Faced with a three-footer for a birdie that would have punched his ticket to Royal Portrush in July – and so see the Spaniard return to what he calls “my favourite major” for the first time in three years – he agonisingly pushed the tiddler wide.
It meant Jason Kokrak joined fellow LIV rebels Patrick Reed and the winner Carlos Ortiz as the trio who earned berths from the Asian Tour International Series event in Macau. If Garcia had converted successfully, he would have come joint third with Kokrak, but would have been granted the spot because of his lower world ranking.
It was a genuine case of ‘hit the hole or bust’ and, although he did not speak to media afterwards, those present at the layout in the Chinese city reported that Garcia was clearly shell-shocked.
If the 45-year-old now fails to find another route to the Dunluce links, this moment will inevitably hurt terribly. Garcia has a green jacket in his locker, but he makes no secret of the fact that the Claret Jug is the title he craves above all others. “I have so much history in the Open,” he once told Telegraph Sport. “It is my lifelong dream to win it and I will never stop trying.”
He was a 16-year-old amateur when he made his debut at Royal Lytham and has played in 24 more Opens since then, racking up 10 top-10s. That is a fine record, but Garcia’s Open odyssey has been marked by despair and what could have been.
The picture of the teenager crying in the arms of his mother following an 18-over 89 at Carnoustie in 1999 has long since entered golfing folklore – and when this natural links performer has thrust himself into contention his experiences have still been defined by rancour.
At the 2006 Open he was put in his place by his nemesis Tiger Woods – Garcia dressed all in yellow for the final round at Hoylake and Woods later messaged a friend “I just splattered Tweetie Pie” – as he tailed off in fifth. And then, the next year, when he seemed certain to prevail he bogeyed the last, before being beaten in a play-off by another bitter rival in Padraig Harrington.
Some will believe that Garcia has been put out of his Open misery early on this occasion, but he still has at least two more opportunities to book his spot – and not just at final qualifying, the last-chance saloon in which he fell two shots shy last year.
This is the first year that the R&A has granted LIV a direct pathway to the major via its money list, with the leading player not already exempt in the top five of LIV standings following LIV Golf Dallas in June awarded a place in the 153rd Open.
At the moment, Garcia is third on the order of merit and with the two players ahead – Joaquin Niemann and Jon Rahm already qualified – the veteran is in the box seat in that particular race. The 45-year-old’s first job is to remain in that position for the next three LIV events, as that will see him take the US Open place offered for the first time by the US Golf Association.
As Garcia tries to obtain an unlikely Ryder Cup return for September’s match in New York, he understands the importance of highlighting his good form to Europe captain Luke Donald in the majors, as well as on LIV, where he has been playing well, with two wins in the last eight events.
