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Sergio Garcia will not participate in next week's PGA Championship. The second major tournament on the schedule this year will not feature the veteran.
This isn't all that surprising since he barely cracks the OWGR top 200 and is on LIV Golf, but it does mark the end of an incredible feat.
Gregory Shamus of Golf Digest said:
"The 43-year-old Spaniard failed to qualify for the championship through its more than a dozen criteria and did not receive a special invite to round out the field. In itself this was not a surprise; Garcia is No. 189 in the Official World Golf Ranking."
"But in the context of his career it is a shock, as next week will mark the first time Garcia has not been eligible to play in a major championship since 1999."
In 23 years, Garcia has been eligible to play for every single major tournament. That's something no one, not even the great Tiger Woods, has done in a long while. Jack Nicklaus once made 146 consecutive major starts, though. While Garcia made his choice to defect, this is partly a disappointing consequence.
Garcia likely made his own bed on this one. The PGA of America can and often does send special invitations to players. Had he not left for LIV, he might have gotten one to keep the streak.
Additionally, if he hadn't become one of LIV's most ardent supporters and the most vocal detractors to the PGA Tour, they might have been more open to sending the invitation. Alas, a wondrous streak comes to a frustrating close.
Sergio Garcia called out by Rory McIlroy
Sergio Garcia recently rescinded his membership on the DP World Tour. After the courts ruled in favor of them with their legal battle with LIV Golf, Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood just resigned from the Tour.
The had been a big part of the tour, but their defection to LIV put a strain on all that. As a result, they're out and they won't be captains on the Ryder Cup, either. LIV players can play in the Ryder Cup if the captains choose them, but they can't be captains themselves.
This was a disappointment to PGA star Rory McIlroy, who turned his ire towards Sergio Garcia and his counterparts via The Comeback:
“I think it’s a shame that you’ve got the highest points scorer ever in the Ryder Cup [Sergio Garcia] and two guys [Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood] that when they look back on their career, that’s probably going to be at least a big chunk of their legacy is the roles that they have played in the Ryder Cup for Europe. For those three guys to not captain Europe one day, it’s a shame.”
These three made their decisions and likely stand by them, but they're not without consequences. Hopefully, the switch to LIV was worth the vitriol, the punishment and the loss of Sergio Garcia's impressive streak.
