Major winner would've quit golf if he had gone through Sergio Garcia's Open agony

Padraig Harrington once said he would have retired from golf if he had been defeated by Sergio Garcia in the 2007 Open. Since then, Garcia's heartbreak has continued in many facets, with the Spaniard now missing out in qualifying for the 2024 edition of the major.

On Tuesday, Garcia learned he would miss the British Open after the LIV Golf star fell two shots short in Final Qualifying at West Lancashire Golf Club. The Spaniard hoped to earn a 100th major championship start, but he will miss the event at Royal Troon later this month.

Garcia enjoyed a fine start to the day, carding a solid one-under-par 70 in his opening round in difficult conditions. While he improved in the second round, the Fireballs captain fell two shots short at three-under and has now failed to get through British Open qualifying in successive years.

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It’s another difficult British Open experience for Garcia. Back in 2007 at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland, Harrington defeated Garcia in a playoff to clinch his first major championship. The Irishman became Europe's first winner of a major in eight years after he defeated his Ryder Cup teammate by a single shot over four extra holes. Harrington later admitted the pain of such a loss would likely have forced him to quit golf.

“I never let myself think I had blown The Open,” said Harrington. “If I had lost I would have struggled to come back out and be a professional golfer. It meant that much to me. It would have been incredibly hard to take. If I'd lost I don't know what I'd think about playing golf again.”

While Garcia finally claimed a major title at Augusta, more British Open agony will sting. Speaking afterward, the former Masters champion admitted it would have been a dream to qualify for his 100th major at Royal Troon.

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“I was fighting as hard as I could to make it through,” Garcia told reporters. “It would have been a dream come true to make The Open my 100th major because I love The Open, everybody knows how much I love playing here in the UK and you could see it with the amount of people we had following our group this year and last year.”

After joining LIV Golf, Garcia has slipped down the rankings and needs qualifying to play at both the British and U.S. Opens in recent years. However, Garcia does have a lifetime invite to The Masters following his 2017 victory.

He added: “It is a little bit disappointing [The Open not being major 100]. I guess though it will be The Masters which is also not a bad choice. It would have been nice to be at Troon.

“The only thing I can do is come here and give it everything I have and see what happens. I’m going to be a little short, but that is life, and that is golf.”