[PHOTO: Alex Slitz]
It was an impressive run for Sergio Garcia, but after competing in each of the past 25 straight US Opens, his streak has ended. Garcia bogeyed his 36th hole of the day during US Open qualifying at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas and it pushed him one shot short of being in a large playoff for the final spot. He shot 65-71 to end with a six-under total.
Garcia, 45, lost in a playoff last year to advance to Pinehurst No.2 but ultimately got into the field as an alternate. He then tied for 12th place in North Carolina and has posted five top-10 finishes in the US Open during his career. His best finish was a third-place tie in 2005, also at Pinehurst, where he was five shots behind Michael Campbell. His most recent top-10 finish in a major, oddly enough, came at the 2017 Masters, which he won.
Last week, Garcia tied for 67th place at the PGA Championship. It was there where he lamented his poor form, telling reporters that he needed to play better in order to be in the mix for a Ryder Cup pick in September at Bethpage Black.
“Obviously the way I’m playing, even if Luke [Donald] offered me a pick right now, I would tell him no,” Garcia said after the final round at Quail Hollow. “So obviously I need to get better. I need to get more where I was just before the Masters. You know, just show myself and show everyone that my game is solid, and it can help the Team Europe. It’s as simple as that.”
Garcia has 11 PGA Tour titles, 16 European Tour wins and two LIV Golf victories, including one in March in Hong Kong. He is fourth in the league’s season-long individual standings.
Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard Petersen was the medallist in Dallas after shooting 66-65 for an 11-under total and will be at Oakmont in Pennsylvania from June 12-15. James Hahn and Adam Schenk tied for second place. Hahn, 43, is a two-time PGA Tour winner but hasn’t played in a major since the 2018 PGA Championship. Schenk will play in his fourth consecutive US Open, having missed the cut each of the past two years.
Some of the notables who missed out on qualifying in Texas were Alejandro Tosti, Peter Malnati, Cameron Champ, Austin Eckroat, Caleb Surratt, Charley Hoffman, Abe Ancer, Kevin Chappell, Joel Dahmen, Pierceson Coody and Talor Gooch.
Edoardo Molinari, Luke Donald’s vice-captain for the 2023 and 2025 Ryder Cups, qualified for the US Open in England. [Photo: Richard Heathcote]
There were qualifiers in England and Japan too.
At Walton Heath in England, Englishman Jordan Smith was the medallist and Edoardo Molinari snagged the last spot in a playoff. The 44-year-old from Italy was a vice-captain for Luke Donald in the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome and will be again this year in New York. He qualified for the US Open last year and was thrilled to do so again for Oakmont.
“It feels fantastic,” Molinari said. “When you get to my age you have to relish the opportunity. I’m really looking forward to it.
“It’s a proper US Open test. I’m keen to go there and see what I can do.”
RELATED: No graduated rough and nasty ditches will make Oakmont even more brutal
Molinari’s brother, Francesco, the 2018 Open champion, was among those who did not qualify. Adrian Meronk, Sam Horsfield, Alex Fitzpatrick and Haotong Li were others who did not advance.
Yuta Sugiura, Scott Vincent and Jinichiro Kozuma advanced in the qualifier at Tarao Country Club in Japan. Vincent played the past two full seasons with LIV Golf but found himself in the Drop Zone last year. He’s played mostly in the Asian Tour’s International Series this year. Kozuma also played last season on LIV Golf and has only played in the last two events with the league this year.
Ryo Ishikawa is among the notables to have missed out on advancing to the US Open from the Japan site.
