How Did Sergio Garcia Earn Spot in 2024 U.S. Open Despite Failed Qualifying Attempt? His Last-Minute Entry Explained

On May 20th, Sergio Garcia entered the final US Open qualifier at the Dallas Athletic Club. The Spaniard was tied for second after the first round. However, as the final round concluded, seven players were tied, and Garcia was one of them. Unfortunately, the one-time major winner was the only one who made a bogey and missed the qualification to be a first alternate.

But now, he has found his way to Pinehurst. How? Well, the USGA has kept six spots for late exceptions into the third major of the year. Two of these were snatched by Adam Scott after the tragic death of Grayson Murray and Robert MacIntyre, as he won the RBC Canadian Open two weeks ago. Garcia, being the first alternate, was given the third late exception into the U.S. Open.

With this, the Spaniard joins Scott, who was going to break his 23-year-long streak of playing every major but was saved by the exemption. Garcia, too, can continue his streak and play the U.S. Open for the 25th consecutive year. The 2017 Masters winner has been longing for a second major title. With this magical chance given to him, Garcia may pull out an incredible performance and change his best finish at the U.S. Open from being T3 in 2005 to finally being a winner.

Garcia joins the 156 players, including Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and more, at Pinehurst No. 2, increasing the number of LIV Golf pros to fourteen. Garcia luckily got to play in the U.S. Open because he participated in the final qualifier. Two top LIV golfers missed the chance by opting out of the qualifying event.

Patrick Reed and Talor Gooch will miss the 124th U.S. Open.

Despite finishing outside the top 11 spots at the Dallas Athletic Club, Sergio Garcia received the late exemption because, first, he was in the field and second, he played well enough to be the first alternate. This could have been the fate of Patrick Reed and Talor Gooch, but only if they had participated in the final qualifying for the U.S. Open.

For Reed, this tragically ends his 11-year-old streak of playing in every major since the 2014 Masters. Notably, the one-time Masters winner was supposed to play with Garcia at the Dallas Athletic Club. However, after finishing the PGA Championship on May 19th in mid-afternoon, Reed had an 8 a.m. tee time to play at the Dallas Athletic Club. Unfortunately, Reed found it was not feasible to fly out to Dallas in such a short time and freshen up for the game. He deemed it “not meant to be” for him to play in the 2024 U.S. Open and withdrew his name.

On the other hand, Talor Gooch never entered any final qualifying sites in the US. Gooch has been in a tussle with the USGA for a long time. Last year, the USGA tweaked its rule that made the pros eligible for the TOUR Championship and qualify for the U.S. Open. However, per the latest change, those suspended from the PGA Tour would not get the same exemption, which cost Gooch his dear qualification in 2023.

Seemingly, Gooch based his decision on a rule change by the USGA and reasoned that he wanted to focus more on upcoming LIV Golf events. Nonetheless, if these two pros had entered the qualifying events and played enough to be alternatives, Reed and Gooch would probably have received the remaining U.S. Open exemptions.