Garcia misses out on Open qualification again

Spain's Sergio Garcia will miss the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale next month for the third time in four years.

The 46-year-old came up short at West Lancashire, one of four venues where 20 players qualified for the tournament, after putting himself in a strong position to make the 154th Open.

Having shot a 60 in his first round, the 2017 Masters champion carded a three-over 75 in his second to finish well outside the five qualifying spots available at that venue.

England duo Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, and Matt Wallace also missed out on qualification at West Lancashire, while Sheffield-born Sam Bairstow finished first at 10 under par to secure his place.

New Zealand's Kazuma Kobori, Spain's Jose Luis Ballester, Germany's Tiger Christensen and England's Matthew Jordan also qualified.

At Dundonald Links, Scotland's Jack McDonald topped the qualifying leaderboard at five under and will be joined by England's Matthew Baldwin, American Marcus Plunkett, and amateurs David Howard and Nevill Ruiter.

American James Nicholas finished first at Burnham and Berrow to qualify alongside compatriots Caleb Surratt and Austen Truslow.

England's Tom Sloman and Spanish amateur Alejandro de Castro Piera also secured their places.

Englishman Matthew Southgate, South Africa's MJ Daffue, Denmark's Bard Bjornevik Skogen, American Peter Uihlein and France's Antoine Rozner were the five players to qualify from Royal Cinque Ports.