Sergio García will not play, barring a surprise or last-minute withdrawal, in the upcoming US Open Golf Championship, the third major of the season scheduled from June 13th to 16th. García, who competed in the qualifying tournament held in Dallas, Texas, as he could not secure a spot through the rankings, finished the first round with 66 strokes.
However, he struggled in the second round, ending with 73 strokes for a total of 139. The Spaniard thus ended up tied with seven other golfers, and one of them had to miss out on the tournament in the battle for the last six spots.
Sergio Garcia, results
However, in the decisive playoff, García made a bogey on the first hole while the rest of the contenders managed to sink the ball at par or birdie, sealing their spots and leaving García out.
He will have to wait for a last-minute withdrawal to enter the tournament as he remains the first alternate. Another Spanish player, Eugenio López Chacarra, did secure his spot for the US Open. After finishing the first round with 66 strokes, he managed to finish the second round with 70 for a total of 136, surpassing the cut in second place tied with American Mcclure Meissner and just one stroke behind Colombian Nicolás Echavarría.
He began playing golf at the age of 3 at the “Club de Campo del Mediterráneo,” where his father Victor was a teacher. At 12, he was already a champion at his club, and four years later, he became the youngest player to make the cut in a European Tour event, at the Turespaña Open Mediterranea in 1995.
This record was later surpassed by amateur Jason Hark in the UBS Hong Kong Open. In the same year, García became the youngest player to win the European Amateur Championship. Throughout his amateur career, he won numerous titles, from the Topolino World Junior Championship (1994) to the European Championship (1995) to the British Amateur (1998).
He turned professional in 1999 after winning the title of best amateur at the Augusta Masters, achieving a handicap of +5.4, and boasting an official match-play record of 32 wins and only one loss. In his first year as a pro, he immediately caught attention with a spectacular head-to-head battle with Tiger Woods at the 1999 PGA Championship, where he showcased his most famous shot: an intentional slice from behind a tree with the ball landing on the green, prompting García to run and jump to see its landing.
García has always been one of the strongest players from tee to green, with a very distinctive swing. He is a cornerstone of the European Ryder Cup team, with 6 victories (2002, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2018) in 9 appearances and holding the record for the youngest participant in the tournament (in the 1999 edition).