“It would be nice to reach number 100 at the Open Championship at Royal Troon. We’re going to try.” Speaks the insatiable nature of an elite athlete with an extraordinary career. As if the 99 Majors he is going to reach when he tees off on Thursday at the 1st tee of Pinehurst No.2 were not enough. Because yes, because Sergio García is going to play his 99th major this week. That’s saying something. It has rained, a lot, and the sun has shone, a lot, since that July 1996 when the golfer from Borriol, at just 16 years old, was baptised in the Majors at the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes. Sergio has always been there.
To understand the magnitude of the figure, there is nothing better than making a historical comparison. Do you know how many players have played 99 or more Majors in the history of this sport? Sergio is going to become number 19. Of all of them, in addition to the Spaniard, who can continue adding Majors, there are only five: Phil Mickelson (126), Bernhard Langer (111) (who is going to play one more Masters), Ernie Els (107), Fred Couples (105) and Vijay Singh (101).
The complete list of players who have played 99 or more Majors is as follows:
1957-2005 Jack Nicklaus 164
1956-2009 Gary Player 150
1970-2016 Tom Watson 145
1953-2004 Arnold Palmer 142
1963-2009 Raymond Floyd 127
1990-2024 Phil Mickelson 123
1937-1983 Sam Snead 118
1970-2015 Ben Crenshaw 117
1920-1976 Gene Sarazen 115
1976-2023 Bernhard Langer 111
1980-2018 Mark O’Meara 110
1970-2004 Tom Kite 109
1989-2023 Ernie Els 107
1979-2024 Fred Couples 105
1989-2024 Vijay Singh 101
1986-2020 Davis Love III 101
1974-2023 Sandy Lyle 101
1976-2015 Nick Faldo 100
1996-2024 Sergio García 98
Be that as it may, Sergio is going to join the 100 club soon. Either he does it at the next Open, if he gets the qualification through the preliminary, or he will achieve it at the 2025 Masters. He has it within his reach. If we think about the future, as long as injuries respect him as they have so far, it is not unreasonable to add at least another 20 tournaments in Augusta (he is currently 44 years old and has not had a major injury in his entire life) plus other Majors that fall here and there in the coming years, it is easy to think of a Sergio who moves around 125 Majors when he finishes his career. This is a lot. Ahead he would only have Mickelson, Floyd, and we’ll see, and the fantastic four: Nicklaus, Player, Watson and Palmer. If Sergio decides to win the PGA or the Open in these years, his number of Majors could multiply exponentially and we could see him within a mythical top 5. “I’ve never been much for looking at these kinds of statistics in my career, but it’s undeniable that they say something, they speak of a trajectory,” he assures Ten Golf.
Sergio’s other feat this week is the 25th consecutive US Open. This is even more exclusive. Playing 25 years in a row or more this tournament is something that has only been within the reach of eight players in history. The list is as follows:
Jack Nicklaus 1957-2000 (44)
Hale Irwin 1971-2002 (32)
Tom Kite 1974-2004 (31)
Arnold Palmer 1953-1983 (31)
Tom Watson 1972-2000 (29)
Gary Player 1958-1984 (27)
Ernie Els 1993-2019 (27)
Raymond Floyd 1969-1993 (25)
Jim Furyk 1996-2019 (24)
Sergio García 2000-2023 (24)
As you can see, the only two players who remain active on this list are Ernie Els and the Spanish player. It’s really impressive. Two feats that are not within everyone’s reach and deserve all the recognition.
From Pinehurst, we ask Sergio García the two golden questions and the truth is that he is not far off…
