The PGA Championship still needs to be decided, but not long after the Wanamaker Trophy is handed out at Oak Hill, the attention turns to the year’s next men’s major: the US Open, set for June 15-18 at Los Angeles Country Club. On Monday in the US, one of the USGA’s 13 36-hole Final Qualifiers is held at Northwood Club and Bent Tree in Dallas, and the field has a host of recognisable names competing (see tee-times here), including Australia’s Marc Leishman and Matt Jones.
There’s also another very familiar notable: Sergio Garcia. The 43-year-old Spaniard was not in the field this week in Rochester, New York, the first major Garcia had failed to qualify for since playing in the 1999 PGA at Medinah as a 19-year-old. Garcia, the 2017 Masters winner who jumped to the LIV Golf League last year, has fallen to 200th in the Official World Golf Ranking, limiting his ability to earn exemptions into the majors based off his ranking.
While Garcia has competed in 23 US Opens, with a career best finish of T-3 coming at Pinehurst in 2005, this is not the first time he has had to play his way in through qualifying. In 2011, Garcia got through a seven-players-for-four-spots playoff to advance to Congressional Country Club.
Garcia isn’t the only LIV golfer who is a former major winner competing on Monday. Graeme McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion, is also trying to play his way into the 2023 Open at LACC. The Irishman’s 10-year exemption for winning at Pebble Beach ran out in 2021, and a year ago he also entered Final Qualifying in hopes of playing his way into the field. McDowell, 43, hasn’t played in any major since the 2020 Masters.
Two other LIV golfers are listed as playing in Dallas: Thomas Pieters, who just finished up his final round at Oak Hill, and Branden Grace. All told, 25 LIV golfers filed entries to try to qualify for this year’s US Open, with 24 playing in the remaining Final Qualifiers, 10 of which take place on June 5.
Abraham Ancer
Richard Bland
Dean Burmester
Sergio Garcia
Branden Grace
Matt Jones
Jason Kokrak
Danny Lee
Marc Leishman
Graeme McDowell
Sebastian Munoz
Kevin Na
Andy Ogletree
Carlos Ortiz
Mito Pereira
Thomas Pieters
James Piot
David Puig
Brendan Steele
Cameron Tringale
Peter Uihlein
Harold Varner III
Scott Vincent
Matthew Wolff
Seven LIV golfers are currently exempt into the championship, with a handful of others likely to get in by being in the top 60 in the world ranking later today. (Pieters might be among them, in which case he would not have to play in Dallas.)
LIV Golf’s next tournament is this coming week at Trump National outside Washington, DC.
