With just a couple of days left for the 2023 Open Championship to begin, the stakes are high. In this case, that is the qualifying round for the year’s final major and the list of players being finalized. In total, seventeen golfers, both pros and amateurs, added their names to the long list of players for the 151st British Open.

On the professional front, Sergio Garcia had induced hope in the fans after his first round but was met with disheartening news. Meanwhile, an amateur golfer from Germany caught everybody’s attention with his unexpected connection with Tiger Woods. Golf fans couldn’t seem to hold themselves back from commenting on it.

Tiger Woods’ absence draws a reaction from an ardent fan

It is evident that Woods did not have a dominant presence in any of the majors this season, owing to his injuries. After withdrawing from the Masters after he made the cut, and missing out on the PGA Championship and US Open, fans awaited for the golf legend to take on the greens in Scotland but were met with the unfortunate announcement of his withdrawal. However, as one moves closer to this last major of the year 2023, fans will, in one way or another, find ways to remember the legend.

One of the prime examples is the name of the amateur golfer who qualified for the Open Championship in the final qualifying round. His first name is the same as the legend of the game, Tiger Christensen!

Now, this is self-explanatory as to why fans would have associated the two. One of the users, hence, commented, “So there will be a Tiger at the open!” Indicating the unavailability of the 15-time major winner, the fan found solace at the thought that another “Tiger” would be there on the greens at Hoylake to remind golf enthusiasts of the G.O.A.T. Among golf names like Matt Wallace, Matthew Jordan, and Alex Fitzpatrick, the young college athlete found his place at 9 under par, beating out the likes of Sergio Garica, who was three shots shy of making the field.

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Amidst the happy coincidences and emerging young talents, Spanish star Sergio Garcia has snowed under. In fact, since 1997, it will be the first time the Spaniard will not play at the Open Championship.

Sergio Garcia suffers a career setback!

Spanish star Sergio Garcia has displayed phenomenal skills on the field and outperformed himself numerous times. But the 2017 Masters champion’s success has also been accompanied by a fair share of unfortunate events. First, it was this year’s PGA Championship, where the golfer did not have an option but to sit out of the game. Now, it is the British Open that has stained over twenty-five years of Garcia’s legacy, as he failed to enter the 151st Open Championship through final qualifying.

His 2017 Masters win allowed him an exemption from qualifying for the majors until last year. This season, however, he had to take the old route and pass the qualifying round, thanks to his low OWGR ranking and LIV not earning ranking points for their events!

After the disappointing afternoon, Garcia talked to Sports Illustrated, “I felt like I had it early on, I was rolling nicely. Got a pretty bad break on seven in the afternoon and kind of stole my momentum a little bit and then it was tough to get going again.” With the LIV event this week, Garcia will be flying back to London, but not without a word of promise to his fans. “I would love to give them a couple more things to cheer for,” said the Spaniard.

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