Sergio García (-3) has bid farewell to the Open Championship with his best round of the week (68 strokes) and delivering a small masterclass in approach shots, leaving himself many very good birdie opportunities. Not many players will leave them closer on average than the Spaniard this Sunday. The man from Borriol played so well that he even found Royal Portrush easy. “The conditions are perfect. The course is set up for a 60.” The most curious thing is that the day didn’t start particularly well for the Spaniard…
Sergio missed the fairway on the 1st hole to the left and complicated the hole. He managed to save par, but the feeling wasn’t good. Basically, the shot didn’t open up from the tee. Immediately after, on the 2nd hole, more of the same. Tee shot to the left, doesn’t open, and misses the fairway. Frustration. He turns around on the tee. Hits the ground with the driver and it breaks in two. The gesture is ugly in any case, but it’s true that it wasn’t excessively violent. “I didn’t want to break the club. I’m not quite sure what happened. Normally, if you hit it like that, it usually breaks at the neck, but in this case, it was the shaft. It broke in two. It’s strange. Probably, the shaft was already damaged at that point and it finally broke,” he explained at the end of the round.
Be that as it may, and whether or not it’s related, the truth is that Sergio showed great solidity from the tee with the 3-wood. He could no longer use the driver for the rest of the round because it broke after a gesture of frustration, not accidentally, but he didn’t miss it, except for the par 5s and the tee shot on 17, where today you can reach in one. The thing is, it was by far his best day with the irons to the green, and the putter accompanied better than on other days. It’s as if the breaking of the driver lowered his heart rate, as if it helped him, without this justifying anything, obviously.
Sergio leaves Portrush with good feelings. In fact, he still considers the Ryder Cup a feasible major goal. “I don’t think this week was the last chance to be in the Ryder. The team isn’t chosen next week. We have important weeks ahead to show that my game is good and that I can bring good things to the team. I don’t have to convince Luke Donald. It’s he who has to be convinced that I can help the team. I do believe that my experience can be valuable in a territory that will be as hostile as Bethpage, to support the younger players, just as Jesper Parnevik did with me in 1999. But it’s Luke who has to decide if I deserve to be there,” he explains.
Sergio started to improve in Dallas, took another step forward in Valderrama, and at the Open, he felt even more comfortable. He is noticing that his game is growing again, resembling the first months, and now he has to confirm it with results in the remaining tournaments of the LIV Golf calendar. Only then will he be able to fully convince Luke Donald.
In his return to the Open three years later, his 102nd Major, García will finish around the 30th position.
