ST ANDREWS, Scotland — Sergio Garcia of Spain looks on from the fourth hole during Day Three of The 150th Open at St Andrews Old Course on July 16, 2022. | Photo by Stuart Franklin/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
In order to play in the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July, Sergio Garcia will need to make it through final qualifying.
Sergio Garcia has played in every Open Championship since 1998.
The Spaniard must make it through final qualifying to play in golf’s oldest tournament again this year.
He will tee it up at West Lancashire, one of England’s oldest clubs, on July 4.
West Lancashire is one of four golf courses that host The Open’s final qualifiers.
Similar to U.S. Open qualifying, the final qualifier for The Open Championship is 36 holes.
Garcia will begin his first 18 holes at 7:20 a.m. local time with Jamie Donaldson of Wales and Matthew Jordan, an Englishman who plays on the DP World Tour. This group will tee it up again at 1:05 p.m. local time for their second rounds.
Photo by Darren Carroll/Getty Images
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland — Sergio Garcia follows through on a tee shot during the third round of the 136th Open Championship in Carnoustie, Scotland at Carnoustie Golf Links on Saturday, July 21, 2007. He eventually lost in a playoff to Padraig Harrington.
Two hundred eighty-eight players are vying for 16 spots across the four golf courses.
Other LIV players are also trying to qualify for the Open Championship since their DP World Tour and PGA Tour memberships were revoked.
Graeme McDowell and Mito Pereira will join Garcia at West Lancashire in final qualifying. McDowell has not played in a major championship since missing the cut at the 2020 Masters Tournament. Pereira most recently missed the cut at the 2023 U.S. Open.
Royal Porthcawl, the Wales course hosting the 2023 Senior Open Championship, is another final qualifying venue for The Open. Marc Leishman is among six LIV Golfers hoping to qualify from there. The Australian lost to Zach Johnson in a playoff at St. Andrews during the 2015 Open.
Five LIV Golfers will then tee it up at Dundonald Golf Links, located just a few miles north of Royal Troon on the west coast of Scotland. Royal Troon will host the 2024 Open Championship.
The biggest name listed among the Dundonald draw is Michael Block, who has never played in The Open before.
Then, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, known simply as “Deal” due to its location in Deal, England, is the fourth final qualifying venue. Seven LIV golfers will try and make their way to Liverpool through Deal, with Charl Schwartzel being the most prominent name there.
Only four players will head to Royal Liverpool from each venue.
Garcia has a tough road ahead of him and plenty of competition, but he made it to the Los Angeles Country Club through U.S. Open qualifying.
It would shock no one if the 2017 Masters Champion made it to Royal Liverpool.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
