The Open: Sergio Garcia again fails to qualify for the Open

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

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

After scoring 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 the venue.

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

New Zealand’s Kazuma Cobri, Spain’s Jose Luis Ballester, Germany’s Tiger Christensen and England’s Matthew Jordan have also qualified.

On the Dundonald link, Scotland’s Jack Macdonald tops the qualifier leaderboard Under five and will be joined by England’s Matthew Baldwin, American Marcus Plunkett and amateurs David Howard and Neville Ruiter.

American James Nicholas Burnham and Barrow took first place to qualify, along with compatriots Caleb Surratt and Austen Truslow.

England’s Tom Sloman and Spanish amateur Alejandro de Castro Piero also confirmed their places.

Englishman Matthew Southgate, South Africa’s MJ Dafoe, Denmark’s Bard Bjornevik Skogen, American Peter Wiehlin and France’s Antoine Rosner were the five players to qualify from the Royal Cinque Ports.