Sergio Garcia will miss The Open for the third time in four years after a health scare disrupted his Final Qualifying bid at West Lancashire.

The two-time Open runner-up arrived as one of the favorites to secure a place at Royal Birkdale, but nausea during the second round ultimately ended his hopes of making a 27th championship appearance.

"I went to have a little bit of lunch before the second round and it didn't sit very well with me, and I struggled with my stomach, at first the first nine holes, just feeling nauseous and you know felt like I was going to throw up pretty much on every single hole," said Garcia in a video shared by Sky Sports Golf on X.

Garcia was well in the mix after shooting a 68 in the first round. However, an unexpected factor became the turning point for the 46-year-old: the lasagna he ate before the second round.

He made four bogeys over his opening nine holes in the second round. He found some rhythm over his closing nine, but the damage was already done.

"And yeah. So that was a little bit unfortunate. But you know, it's what it is. And um you know, we came here, we gave it a shot; that's all I can ask myself. I gave it everything I had," added Garcia.

He carded a 75 in the final 18 holes and finished seven shots short of a 3-for-1 playoff. As a result, he will miss The Open for the third time in four years.

The Spaniard will finish the season with just one major appearance, a disappointing 52nd-place finish at Augusta, where he was also handed a Code of Conduct warning for smashing his driver on the tee box and a cooler.

While Garcia's campaign was derailed by illness, five players emerged from West Lancashire with spots in The Open secured.

Golfers who secured a start in the Open from West Lancashire

Sam Bairstow came out on top at West Lancashire. With rounds of 66 and 68, Bairstow came through Final Qualifying for the third time, according to The Open.

Following him were New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori, Spaniard Jose Luis Ballester Barrio and Germany’s Tiger Christensen. They all finished T2 at 9-under.  

Kobori and Ballester Barrio both shot a 7-under-par 65 in their second rounds after opening with 70s. Interestingly, Christensen did exactly the opposite.

At West Lancashire, things came down to the wire as the last spot was decided with a 3-for-1 playoff. 

With a birdie on the second play-off hole, Matthew Jordan clinched the last qualifying spot on offer against amateur Sam Easterbrook and Joe Dean. 

What are your thoughts on Garcia’s health scare? Share them in the comments.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav