Justin Rose qualifies for The Open with Sergio Garcia among big names to miss out
Justin Rose will fight it out for The Open later this month but his Ryder Cup pal Sergio Garcia has missed out again.
Rose has taken part in every Open since 2007 apart from one, only missing 2022’s edition because of injury.
4
Rose has qualified for The Open later this monthCredit: GettyThe 43-year-old has never won the major but came close in 2018 when he finished T2 but he has high hopes of finally lifting the Claret Jug on Sunday at Royal Troon.
Having struggled at recent majors, missing four out of the last five cuts, Rose tied for top spot at Burnham Burrow in Somerset after playing 36 holes.
The 2013 US Open winner finished eight under par, alongside fellow Englishman Dominic Clemons.
Rose said: “The Open’s been a bit of a fairytale and love story for me since I was 14 and I qualified at Scotscraig.
READ MORE ON GOLF”Sometimes you take it for granted – you’re exempt, you turn up and play for many years – but as you get older things get a little harder so in some ways it’s good to have to qualify because it makes you appreciate how special it is.”
Meanwhile, Rose’s Ryder Cup companion Garcia missed out on The Open for a second year in a row after finishing two strokes adrift of the top four at West Lancashire.
It was the exact same result that saw the LIV Golf star fail to qualify for the British major last year.
And it is because of Garcia’s affiliation with LIV Golf that has forced the former Masters winner to go through qualifying, due to his low world ranking.
4
Rose has never won The Open, coming close in 2018Credit: Getty
4
Garcia, though, has missed out on The Open againCredit: Getty
4
Garcia complained about the fans at West LancashireCredit: GettyNevertheless, the 44-year-old drew in quite the crowd, though that only appeared to incense him as he finished three under par and finished sixth.
After receiving a warning for slow play at Final Open Qualifying, he blamed the fans for the delays on the eighth tee and he was heard saying: “It needs to be organised better.”
Garcia had hoped to qualify for his 100th major but that will now come at Augusta next year, where he is invited every year after winning The Masters in 2017 when he beat Rose in a play-off.
“The marshalls were doing as good a job as they could do but we had to stop pretty much on every tee for two or three minutes because people were walking on the fairways,” he said.
“I don’t think they took that into account and that was unfortunate as it made us rush and on a day like today, where the conditions are so tricky, you might need a little bit of extra time and because of that I made a couple of bogeys which might have cost me getting to Troon.
“It would’ve been a dream a come true to make the Open my 100th major because I love the Open and playing in the United Kingdom.
Most read in Golf
“Since I joined LIV I think it was a great thing for me as I realised I was so fortunate to play so many majors for so many years in a row without really missing any.
“You cannot lose perspective of how difficult it is to get into the majors and how much they mean.”
The 152nd Open Championship will take place from July 18-21.
