Sergio Garcia claims lunchtime lasagne (literally) spoiled his Open chances

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[Photo: Cameron Smith/R&A]

Sergio Garcia has made a number of questionable decisions on the golf course in his career. So many it’s hard to pinpoint any single one as “the worst”.

Until Tuesday.

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Garcia, who has competed in 26 Open Championships in his career, was attempting to lock up a spot in his 27th at Final Qualifying at West Lancashire in England. He got off to a great start, shooting a 68 on the first 18, a score he’d need to match or better to have a chance on the final 18. But first, lunch.

What was on tap for the former Masters champion? Lasagne. In England.

“I had a little bit of food there in the players lounge and it did not sit well with me,” Garcia said after shooting a second-round 75 that spoiled his Open chances. And his stomach.

“I only ate a lasagne,” he added. “I thought maybe have a little pasta and stuff, but for some reason it didn’t sit well with me and I just felt nauseous the whole front nine. In the afternoon, I felt like I was going to vomit pretty much on every hole.”

It mostly did the Spaniard in on the front nine, where he made four bogeys. He told Ben Parsons of Today’s Golfer that he felt OK again on the inward half, but by then the damage was already done:

It’s tough break for Garcia, but we’re not sure what he expected eating lasagne in England in between rounds with a place in the Open Championship on the line. It would be a wild meal choice if the two rounds were taking place in Italy, as delicious as that would be. You just cannot be eating lasagne before a crucial round of golf, no matter who made it or where it was made.

After playing in every Open Championship between 1998 and 2022, Garcia will now miss his third Open in the past four years.