If you were at the Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas the day after the PGA Championship, you would have been a little surprised. A seasoned veteran, Sergio Garcia, lost his bid for qualification for the US Open after finishing one stroke off the 7th position, the minimum required finish for qualification. This transpired after an unfortunate bogey on the last hole at Texas. The 36 holes in a day right after a major championship, where he played all four days, might not have been the ideal recipe for qualification for the Spaniard. This taxing ordeal was not left without discussion.
Recently, Ryan Hoggard and Rex Lavner discussed the Sergio Garcia situation in detail on the Golf Channel Podcast. We all know if Garcia were on the PGA Tour, he could have gotten qualification by winning any of the PGA Tour events before the US Open rather than going through qualification. But now, he will have to rely on an exemption from the USGA for the same. If he doesn’t get one, this would be the first US Open since 1999 that he’d miss. “Had it not been for LIV, then of course he would have gotten that invitation,” Hoggard explained.
The LIV part of the equation is quiet. Qualification in majors for LIV players is difficult. As past winners, and based on their finishes, they get entry into the majors. For Garcia, he has lifetime access to playing at Augusta, but not the other three majors. In the US Open, Sergio has finished in the top 10 five times during that time, including a T3 finish in 2005. Hoggard argues here that it makes a compelling case to give him that exemption. “He is not a past champion, but certainly when you have 25 years of experience in that championship,” Hoggard made Garcia’s case. This dwindling US Open scenario comes with its own consequences.
Sergio Garcia, after a late three-putt bogey at the U.S. Open qualifier in Dallas, appears destined to miss his first U.S. Open since 1999.
Brutal finish for the Spaniard. His only hope now is an exemption from the USGA. pic.twitter.com/exH7lgwdy7
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) May 20, 2025
The biggest problem with this would be Garcia’s presence in the Ryder Cup for Team Europe. He has been a part of 10 Ryder Cups in his career, playing for the winning side 6 times. His experience will be a valuable weapon to have for Luke Donald, especially considering that the upcoming edition is at Bethpage Black in the USA. Garcia was part of the last Team Europe that won in the United States in 2012. “The Ryder Cup is certainly on his radar and European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald’s radar as well. But I kind of put him in the Brooks Koepka camp. Where you are only valuable if you are playing good golf at this stage,” Lavner added.
The Ryder Cup, clearly, holds a lot of importance for Garcia. He wants what is best for the European squad, and this is why he is even willing to let go of the spot if it were to be offered right now. At the PGA Championship this Sunday, he shared his feelings: “I need to get more to where I was just before the Masters. You know, just show myself and show everyone that my game is solid, and it can help Team Europe. It’s as simple as that.” Garcia had won the LIV Golf Hong Kong event in March but missed the cut in the Masters. “The good thing is that there’s still, you know, two or three months until the team is finalized,” he continued. “So you know, I’ll have time to gain some confidence and improve a little bit on my game.”
The question for Luke Donald will be, if he does not select the Ryder Cup veteran, does his tentative squad have enough experience and firepower to take on Keegan Bradley’s team?
The European Ryder Cup Team
Currently the six automatic qualifiers are 2025 Masters Champion Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, and Rasmus Hojgaard. Tyrrell Hatton makes the list owing to his victory at the Dubai Desert Classic and overall performance on the DP World Tour. Sepp Straka and Justin Rose round out the top six.
The remaining six are down to the captain, Luke Donald. There are a host of talented golfers like Ludvig Aberg, Thomas Detry, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm, Laurie Canter, Aaron Rai, and many more. For Garcia to break into this list, he needs to build on his current form at LIV Golf. Or gain points by putting in a good performance at the Majors or the DP World Tour. But that is now proving difficult, with his participation in the US Open hanging in the balance.
The tentative squad looks powerful and skilled, and it might win at Bethpage, but the way Americans are playing, it might just be difficult.
Do you think Sergio Garcia deserves the exemption to the US Open? Or do you think it should be given to a promising golfer?
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