The final race to book a spot in the 72 players’ field of the Open Championship is on. The major begins on July 18 at Royal Troon, with only 5–6 spots remaining for pros to grab. As with every major championship, this final qualifying round is the last chance for LIV golfers to secure a spot in the highly coveted championship. This includes Sergio Garcia, who is currently at West Lancashire for the 36-hole qualifiers.

Learning the importance of this qualifier, the Spaniard shared a message on X captioning, “Going through qualifiers gives a unique perspective. It’s tough but I enjoy the challenge.” While doing so, the golfer further talked about why he currently values qualifiers and toughness to earn a spot in the majors. Following Greg Norman’s withdrawal of the request with the OWGR, qualifiers remain the only pathway for LIV Golfers to qualify for major championships since winning a major is much tougher than winning in a qualifier.

Speaking of challenges, the Spaniard missed out on the US Open qualifier this year in a brutal fashion. At the 16th hole of Dallas Athletic Club, Garcia was at five under for the day and on track to secure a spot for himself. However, a double bogey dropped him to three under, knocking him down the leaderboard. After the round, he was one of seven players tied at three under, with only six U.S. Open spots remaining. However, later he did get into the tournament by qualifying as an alternate, and then finished at T12 stunningly.

Garcia teed off at 2:50 AM ET alongside Sam Bairstow and Alex Maguire. Interestingly, a sizable crowd followed him during his round, which may have caused slow play for the Ryder Cup hero. Later, Garcia addressed the crowd control at the qualifiers, stating, “It needs to be organized better,” according to the Mirror website.

In a surprising turn of events, Sergio Garcia received a warning for slow play from the rules officials, leaving the golfer furious with them. Highlighting this incident, @_benparsons shared a video on X, “Sergio Garcia furious at his slow play warning at Final Open Qualifying.” The Spaniard was not happy and even lashed out, as he called out the R&A officials for being somewhat unfair, “You’re right, we’re always wrong.”

As the post went viral, the community filled the comments with various reactions, most of them negatively targeting the 44-year-old for his behavior. Meanwhile, some are talking about his performance so far.

Fans are lashing out against Sergio Garcia.
One fan took a jab at the golfer’s performance, remarking, “In fairness, he’s not used to fans watching these days,” possibly alluding to his recent decline. Since joining LIV Golf, his popularity has waned, and his presence in major tournaments has diminished. For example, at the Masters, Garcia missed the cut, finishing with 7-over-par. He was also notably absent from the 2024 PGA Championship. Echoing similar sentiments, another fan commented, “Sergio is fortunate to be able to qualify,” highlighting just like he was able to play at Pinehurst as an alternate. and how he should be thankful for it.

This fan sarcastically remarked, “Hope he doesn’t start tearing up the greens,” likely referring to the 2019 incident at the European Tour’s Saudi International, where the 44-year-old was disqualified for damaging multiple greens during the competition. Additionally, he displayed his anger the following day by taking furious swipes at the sand after a bunker shot went awry.

Sergio Garcia reportedly earned $40 million to join LIV Golf, which is just $14 million less than his total earnings of $54 million during his entire time on the PGA Tour. Alluding to this, a fan commented, “The effect of money and ego….” Despite delivering mediocre performances in LIV Golf tournaments like LIV Golf Adelaide where he finished T40, the fan suggested that LIV Golf professionals receive substantial amounts, which may have influenced the golfer’s attitude. Meanwhile, another fan directly questioned Garcia’s complaint about fans slowing him down, asking, “How are fans slowing you down, @TheSergioGarcia?”

While the community continues to criticize Sergio Garcia, do you believe he will be able to book a spot at Royal Troon?