PGA of America rules LIV Golf's Sergio Garcia OUT of first major since 1999 (!)
Sergio Garcia will miss the US PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
Sergio Garcia, who plays in LIV Golf events, will miss a major for the first time in 24 years after the Spaniard wasn't listed in the field by the PGA of America for the forthcoming US PGA Championship.
It seems so long ago now but it was at Medinah where a teenage Garcia almost took down Tiger Woods at the 1999 U.S. Open.
You might remember that it was at the side of the 16th fairway that Garcia played one of the shots of his life.
He sliced a 6-iron from the tree roots onto the green, running after his shot in the process.
Related: US PGA Championship 2023 field
Then he scissor kicked his way to golf superstardom. He was made to wait until the 2017 Masters to make his major breakthrough.
Now Garcia plays his golf in the LIV Golf League. He's resigned from the DP World Tour (but refused to pay his huge fine that was upheld for joining the breakaway tour).
Garcia resigned his PGA Tour membership last June. He did tell us that he couldn't wait to leave the tour so that was no surprise.
As a result of his choice, Garcia has fallen considerably down the world rankings. He now occupies the No. 189 spot in the world.
Last November, he fell outside the top 100 players in the world for the first time in 23 years. He had entered the top 100 at 19 years of age.
Garcia's exemption as a winner of the green jacket has now run out which means he has to rely on qualifying or an invitation by a major governing body.
Related: Tour pro, reporter clash over Garcia drama!
As pointed out by Doug Ferguson, it will be the first time the Spaniard, 43, is missing a major since 1999.
It's also important to note that of the 18 LIV Golf players in the field one of them has received a special invitation.
That would be England's Paul Casey. The 44-year-old Englishman is ranked 131rd in the world.
Casey struggled with a persistent back injury before he joined the rival league. He has finished outside the top-20 in his last four LIV events in the 48-man fields.
The Englishman finished T-4 at the 2021 PGA Championship and was in the field for last year's major at Southern Hills but was unable to play due to the aforementioned back injury.
The only player inside the top 100 in the OWGR not in the field is Will Zalatoris. The World No.1 is out for the entire season after undergoing surgery to his back.
Here are the 18 LIV Golf players in the field:
- Abraham Ancer
- Dean Burmester
- Paul Casey
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Talor Gooch
- Dustin Johnson
- Martin Kaymer
- Sihwan Kim
- Brooks Koepka
- Anirban Lahiri
- Phil Mickelson
- Joaquin Niemann
- Mito Pereira
- Thomas Pieters
- Patrick Reed
- Cameron Smith
- Brendan Steele
- Harold Varner III
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These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
