Sergio Garcia misses out on British Open qualifying

DEAL, England (AP) — Sergio Garcia will not play the British Open for the first time since 1997, failing to make it through local final qualifying that awarded 19 spots from four locations.

Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace, who holds the Open record with a 62, advanced from their qualifier at Royal Cinque Ports. They joined Laurie Canter as the only regular roster players from LIV Golf to qualify.

The British Open starts July 20 at Royal Liverpool.

Garcia was among three LIV Golf players who qualified for the U.S. Open last month. Garcia tied for 27th. Local qualifying was his only avenue to the British Open. The Spaniard started well at West Lancashire with a 67 but could only manage a 71 in the afternoon and missed out by three shots.

The biggest cheer at West Lancashire was for Matthew Jordan, who earned one of the five spots. Jordan has been a member at Royal Liverpool since he was 7. Also qualifying from West Lancashire was Alex Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of former U.S. open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.

Canter led five qualifiers from Royal Porthcawl in Wales. In the qualifier at Dundonald Links north of Troon in Scotland, Graeme Robertson won a playoff to get the last of four spots.

Among LIV players who failed to qualify were Graeme McDowell, Anirban Lahiri, Jason Kokrak and Dean Burmester.

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