Which Notable Golfers Haven't Qualified For The Open

By: Liam Moore | Thu 13 Jul 2023

The Open Championship week is always one that is looked at with the greatest of excitement.

After juggling our sleeping schedules for the first three major championships of the year, we will be able to enjoy primetime golf with the luxury of watching the world’s greatest players in action if you’re based in Britain.

There are notable absentees from this year’s event however, with a few renowned names missing out for the first time in more than 20 years.

Lee Westwood

Lee Westwood has enjoyed an illustrious journey that has ultimately seen him crowned champion all over the golfing world. The big question that lingered around his career was the lack of a major championship and it now seems highly likely he will culminate his career without one of golf’s grandest prizes.

This year will mark the first Open Championship that does not feature the esteemed Englishman since 1994. Throughout his career, he came agonisingly close to winning the greatest tournament, finishing inside the top 5 on five occasions including runner-up back in 2010. Despite many varying views on LIV Golf’s emergence, an Open Championship without the legend that is Lee Westwood will bring an end to an extremely long era.

Sergio Garcia

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Sergio Garcia is another formidable name that will be missing out on this year’s championship. Like Westwood, Garcia has become such a permanent fixture of this event and it will be his first omission since 1997! An Open Championship without the likes of Westwood, Garcia and Ian Poulter seems unfathomable, but this is the current state of the professional golf scene unfortunately.

Garcia, unlike his good English friend in Westwood, did manage to capture a major championship during his phenomenal career thanks to his victory at Augusta in 2017. Remarkably, this is the only major honour for the Spaniard but ten top 10 finishes in Open Championship history would suggest he was unlucky to not conquer the greatest test.

Ian Poulter

Ian Poulter completes the historic trio that have been prominent throughout the latest era of Open Championship history. Poulter is in a similar position to Westwood in terms of major championships, but he has had such an envious career regardless of those elusive accomplishments. Poulter has only missed one championship since 2007, so his absence will certainly be felt at Royal Liverpool.

The Englishman has missed the entire major schedule for 2023, which is a first for his career. Despite not winning one of golf’s most coveted events, he did place in the top 10 on eight occasions throughout all major appearances. Interestingly, the Open Championship may not be the one week that hurts Poulter the most, considering there’s a certain team-based event scheduled for later in the year!

Graeme McDowell

Graeme McDowell’s individual career highlight took place at the reputable Pebble Beach as the Northern Irishman won the U.S. Open in 2010. Whilst he failed to secure another to date, his legacy in the game of golf will live for a long time. He is another veteran who has contributed to Open Championship history, albeit not with the victory that he would have hoped for.

McDowell, unlike Poulter and Westwood, did try to qualify for The Open Championship, but he failed short in his quest at Final Qualifying. The 43-year-old has not featured in a major championship since 2020 and it’s not absurd to suggest that his presence in these four annual tournaments may be over indefinitely.

Tom McKibbin

Could this be the last time for many years that we see an Open Championship that does not involve the exceptionally skilled Tom McKibbin? The elite talent was born in 2002 but despite winning the Porsche European Open in June, he will not be featuring alongside the world’s very best at Royal Liverpool in July.

McKibbin’s victory in Germany should not have come as a surprise after he demonstrated his willingness to mix with Europe’s best by holding the 36-hole lead at the Singapore Classic back in February 2023. Keep a keen eye on the 20-year-old Northern Irishman going forward, he looks set for the big leagues as his game steadily improves throughout the successive years.

An Open Championship without the likes of Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood seems unbelievable if you consider the legacy the trio have spent the last 25 years building.

Their omission opens the door for new stars to establish themselves; can we expect an unpredictable winner of this year’s championship?