On June 30, 288 hopefuls had an equal shot at the 20 spots for The Open, with four 36-hole qualifiers staged at Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire. Eleven LIV golfers were headed into the Tuesday qualifier, including Dustin Johnson, who withdrew to end his major streak of 71. But three of those hopefuls made it, including Caleb Surratt, Peter Uihlein, and Josele Ballester.

At Burnham & Berrow, Surratt, Anirban Lahiri, and Marc Leishman represented LIV. Legion XIII member Suratt carded rounds of 67 and 66 for a 9-under total and finished solo second, just one shot behind the leader, James Nicholas. It marks the second time Surratt qualified for a major in six weeks. In May, he had clawed his way through a six-for-one playoff to snag his maiden major entry at the U.S. Open, where he finished out T63.

But an entry into The Open has certainly raised the 22-year-old’s spirit again. Following the qualifier, Surratt wrote on Instagram, “Major #2 and first Open on deck at Royal Birkdale! Grateful for an awesome grind out there today! 💨 ☔️ @theopen.”

Meanwhile, at Royal Cinque Ports, Uihlein joined fellow LIV golfers Thomas Detry, Dean Burmester, Branden Grace and Luis Masaveu. He fired rounds of 66 and 69 for a 9-under aggregate, finishing three shots shy of Bard Bjornevik Skogen. The RangeGoats GC member qualified for the U.S. Open via a qualifier as well. However, before his run at Shinnecock Hills, Uihlein hadn’t appeared in a major since 2018.

As per LIV Golf, after booking spots in both the U.S. Open and The Open in the same season, Surratt and Uihlein became the first players since Brandon Wu in 2019 to advance via Final Qualifying.

Lastly, the 22-year-old Ballester, who will play his second The Open after his debut in 2023. Ballester, who hasn’t played any of the three majors this season, shot rounds of 70 and 65 for a 9-under total, one shot behind Samuel Bairstow at West Lancashire. Ballester was in the field with fellow LIV pro Sergio Garcia, but was the only one to finish within qualifying range.

Here are the LIV players who didn’t make it this time:

• Marc Leishman, T-10 (5 under), Burnham & Berrow
• Luis Masaveu, T-11 (5 under), Royal Cinque Ports
• Thomas Detry, T-21 (1 under), Royal Cinque Ports
• Branden Grace, retired, Royal Cinque Ports
• Dean Burmester, retired, Royal Cinque Ports
• Anirban Lahiri, T-38 (3 over), Burnham & Berrow
• Sergio Garcia, T-30 (1 under), West Lancashire

Speaking of García, the former Masters champion had an unusual reason for missing qualification.

Sergio Garcia blames lasagna after Tuesday at the Final Qualifying

“I only ate the lasagna. I thought ‘have a little pasta,’ but for some reason it didn’t sit well with me and I just felt nauseous the whole front nine of the afternoon,” Sergio Garcia told reporters following the qualifier. The Spanish player claimed he felt so sick, he thought of withdrawing. “But I thought, well, let’s play a couple more and see if I get something going, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.”

At West Lancashire, Garcia carded a 68 in the first 18 of the 36-hole test, then slipped to a 75, leaving him seven shots short of a spot at The Open. The result not only kept him out this year but also marked his third absence from the championship in four seasons.

In fact, he has entered the final qualifying in three of the last four years. Last year, he qualified for the field only via an exemption. Overall, Garcia has played The Open 26 times and has two runner-up finishes to his name.

Garcia, who smashed a tee box in his only major appearance this season, says he is working hard so that he enters the world’s top 50 by next year. “Then I won’t have to worry about coming in and qualifying,” Garcia said, as per Golf.

Fans, who hope to see him contend in a major again, will wish for that to come true.