Sergio Garcia had a 3-foot putt for a spot in The Open at Royal Portrush. It did not end well

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[PHOTO: Eurasia Sport Images]

Golf can be a cruel and complex game, particularly at the elite level. Sergio Garcia, after 26 years as a pro, was reminded horribly when he came within three feet of securing a place in the Open Championship at the Asian Tour’s International Series Macau in China.

Instead, the Spaniard missed a short putt on the 18th green at Macau Golf & Country Club and watched on as three LIV Golf peers – Macau winner Carlos Ortiz, Patrick Reed and Jason Kokrak – grabbed the spots at Royal Portrush. “I am overjoyed to be heading to The Open,” Ortiz said, having made only one previous start at The Open, in 2021.

The International Series is a group of lucrative tournaments within the Asian Tour that was created in 2022 via the tour’s partnership with LIV Golf. The Macau stop this past week was also a tournament within the R&A’s Open Qualifying Series, awarding the top three golfers not already exempt a spot in the links major.

Ortiz, Reed and Kokrak were first, second and third on the leaderboard although Garcia somewhat controlled his destiny and could have grabbed Kokrak’s place. The 2017 Masters winner finished one stroke behind the American, in fourth, following an impressive closing 65, but agonisingly missed that three-foot birdie putt on the last. Had he tied Kokrak, Garcia would have secured the Open spot via a countback system based on – irony of ironies – his “higher” position in the Official World Golf Ranking (Garcia at No.513 versus Kokrak at No.775). (Recall LIV events don’t offer world ranking points, hence both players being so far down the ranking.)

Garcia, fresh off a $US4 million victory at the recent LIV Golf Hong Kong event, had played in 22 straight Open Championships (including 10 top-10 finishes) until missing the event in 2023 and 2024. He noted earlier in the Macau tournament how “important” this week was and that The Open was his “favourite major”.

LIV players have limited access to majors their situation with the world ranking, which most of the majors use as a method for automatic qualifying, although recently avenues were established for one spot for the league into US Open and Open Championship via the league’s points standings (which Garcia is in line to use to still get into both events). There were 20 LIV players in Macau, 17 of whom made the cut. Ortiz and Kokrak were not exempt into any of the four majors of 2025 prior to Macau, while Reed was in the Masters as a past champion and Garcia was already confirmed for it and the PGA Championship.

The final round of the International Series Macau produced a thrilling battle between former Masters winner Reed and Mexico’s Ortiz, both winners of previous International Series events. Ortiz held off Reed with a bogey-free, six-under-par 64 to finish at 22-under 258. It was good for a three-shot win over Reed, while Kokrak’s 16-under total placed him third.

Ortiz, the 2020 Houston Open winner on the PGA Tour, began Sunday’s final round in Macau tied with playing partner Reed. But Ortiz, 33, broke away with birdies on the first and third holes before picking up a third shot at the eighth. He reached the turn two ahead of the Texan.

The turning point was the par-5 12th, where Ortiz struck a brilliant fairway wood to five feet and poured in the eagle putt to stay two ahead of Reed, who birdied the same hole. “I was trying to get it on the green and it looked good in the air, you know, getting it that close it’s obviously a little bit of luck, but I hit a great shot so it’s nice to be able to capitalise on that,” Ortiz said.

Coming home, a crucial eight-footer for par on the par-3 14th maintained Ortiz’s two-shot cushion before a birdie at the par-5 18th put the final margin over Reed at three. It was Ortiz’s 10th worldwide win, which includes one each on LIV and the PGA Tour, three on the Korn Ferry Tour and now two on the Asian Tour. He also secured $US360,000 for his efforts in Macau.

“It was a good week,” said Ortiz, a member of Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC on LIV Golf. “I drove it really well… did a good job of putting the ball in play. That’s important on this golf course. Most of the trouble is from the tee, so once you put the driver in play, it opens up from there. I took advantage of the par 5s and some of the short par 4s.”

Reed and Kokrak each posted a 67, although the former was deflated given he had been the 36-hole leader. Tee to green, Reed was impressive with 16 greens hit in regulation. “A little frustrating; I didn’t make many putts,” Reed said of his final round. “Had the case of lip-outs for two days [on the closing rounds]. So that’s unfortunate. When you do something like that, it’s just hard to win golf tournaments. I hit the ball plenty well enough [and] had a decent amount of looks, just [kept] lipping out and burning edges.”

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With the Asian Tour’s International Series Macau event part of The Open International Qualifying Series, Patrick Reed, Carlos Ortiz and Jason Kokrak claimed the three spots in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush. [Photo: Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour]
The silver lining was the start at The Open at Portrush in Northern Ireland from July 17-20. Reed had played 41 consecutive majors before missing last year’s US Open and Open. Historically, The Open has been Reed’s worst major, although his 10th place at Portrush in 2019 was his best result.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the win but anytime you can play bogey-free on Sundays, always positive, really,” Reed said. “To go and finish solo second, get at spot in The Open, yeah, it means a lot.”