LIV Golf Star Sergio Garcia Blames Food After Failing to Qualify for 2026 Open Championship

Sergio Garcia has made 25 appearances in the Open Championship with his best result being a runner-up finish in 2007 and 2014.

LIV Golf Star Sergio Garcia Blames Food After Failing to Qualify for 2026 Open Championship

Sergio Garcia (Image via Sky Sports)

Sergio Garcia will not be teeing off at the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in Merseyside, United Kingdom. The Spaniard failed to qualify for the event on Tuesday. He then blamed his food for this major setback.

Garcia, the 2017 Masters Tournament winner, was hoping to make his 26th start at the Open Championship this year. From 1998 to 2022, Garcia made 24 consecutive starts in this historic major championship.

While the golfer never won this tournament, with a runner-up finish in 2007 and 2014, his best, he has often expressed his desire and love for this event. Last year, he made his 25th appearance through the LIV Golf standings.

With no exemptions this year, the 46-year-old needed to go through the qualifying rounds to earn a spot in the playing field. On Tuesday, he was one of the notable names playing in West Lancashire, England.

Among the 70 players, there were 5 spots up for grabs. The golfers needed to go through a 36-hole shootout to reach the final major of the year.

Things started well for Garcia. The LIV Golf star fired a score of 68 through the first 18 holes. At that point, it seemed he could be one of them who would book his ticket for the tournament.

It was during the break that things got bad for him. As per reports, the veteran would have lasagne in the players’ dining. This did not sit well with him.

In the later round, he started having stomach issues. He finished the final 18 holes with a score of 75 and was 7 shots behind the final qualifying spot. While speaking with the reporters on-site, he blamed his food for this setback.

I only ate the lasagne. I thought maybe have a little pasta and stuff, but for some reason it didn’t sit well with me and I just felt nauseous the whole front nine. In the afternoon, I felt like I was going to vomit pretty much on every hole.

Sergio Garcia said as per Ben Parsons

Garcia also thought of stopping after nine holes. However, he continued on and eventually finished 7 shots behind and missed out on the chance of playing in the 2026 Open Championship.

Meanwhile, the 5 players who got through these qualifiers were Sam Bairstow, Kazuma Kobori, Tiger Christensen, Jose Ballester and Matthew Jordan.

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Sergio Garcia’s 2026 major season ends with just one appearance

Sergio Garcia missed out on the 2026 Open Championship on Tuesday. This means his 2026 major season ended with just one appearance.

Sergio Garcia
Sergio Garcia (Image via Imago)

As a former winner of the Masters Tournament, he has a lifetime exemption into this major. In his 27th start, he finished 52nd with scores of 72-75-74-75. He also found himself under backlash after he broke his club in the final round.

The Fireballs GC captain did not play in the 2026 PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. Last year, he received an invitation to the PGA Championship.

After an opening round of 68, he was looking good to qualify for the Open. A health issue derailed his chances and saw him miss this event for the 3rd time in the last 4 years.

He later added that he would keep trying to qualify and try to reach the top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), which would ease his entry into the majors.

I love the Open and I want to give myself as many chances as possible to play it. Ideally, hopefully I’ll keep playing well and get in the top 50 in the world and then I won’t have to worry about coming in and qualifying.

Sergio Garcia told the reporters as per Ben Parsons

Speaking of him, he has 3 top-10 finishes on the LIV Golf circuit this year. He finished T8 in Hong Kong, 2nd at LIV Golf Virginia, and was 4th in his home country of Spain at the LIV Golf Andalucia event. He is currently 10th in the LIV Golf individual standings with 233.50 points from 9 events.

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