LIV Golf star Sergio Garcia will be competing at next month's US Open at Los Angeles Country Club, but the 2017 Masters champion was forced to earn his place the hard way.
Garcia is one of many LIV stars to have tumbled down the world rankings in the past year, with the Saudi-backed circuit still yet to be recognised by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). Away from LIV competition this has had huge effects on rebels who were hoping to compete at this year's major championships.
Garcia was able to compete at the opening major of the year at the Masters last month, having earned a lifetime exemption after winning the green jacket six years ago.
The Spaniard however failed to qualify for last weekend's PGA Championship at Oak Hill, the first time in 24 years he has not been eligible for a major event. His fortunes have changed ahead of the US Open though, with Garcia in next month's field.
He earned his place in qualifying at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas, where he carded back-to-back rounds of 66 to take one of the eight spots on offer. Speaking after his performance he told Golf.com : "I played well and I knew what I needed.
"I didn't want to be in a play-off. I've done that before. It's pretty scary." His outing in Los Angeles will signal a welcoming return for the former Masters champion, who admitted it was tough to watch last week's PGA Championship from home.
"I watched some at home on Sunday, but at the end of the day I didn’t get in,” he added. “I would have loved to get a spot from the PGA, but they didn’t have me on their radar.” The event at Oak Hill proved to be an important one for LIV Golf, as it saw one of their own in Brooks Koepka take the title on Sunday ahead of Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler.
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Hailing his fellow defector, Garcia commented: "I’ve gotten to know Brooks over the last two years on LIV and know all he went through, so I’m super-happy for him. It shows we still are really good at playing golf and we really care about the game regardless of what some people say about us.”
One LIV star who failed to follow in the footsteps of Garcia was fellow European Graeme McDowell, who just missed out on of the eight qualification places in Dallas. Keen to get himself back in the major mix, McDowell said: "I love this game and I love major championships, and without world ranking points, I’m going to keep trying to get in any way I can."
