Sergio Garcia is an avid football fan and a decent player himself, so he should know to avoid the lasagne at all costs after he blamed a dodgy lunch on his failure to qualify for the Open Championship yet again at West Lancashire’s Final Qualifying.
The former Masters champion now turned LIV Golf journeyman, had started well with an opening four-under 68 in the 36-hole shootout before heading for a halfway bite to eat.
Garcia, who is never far from a ridiculous excuse or petulant temper tantrum, tucked into a lasagne in player dining but revealed that it did not sit well with him and he had considered withdrawing midway through round two due to stomach issues.
“I had a little bit of food there in the players’ lounge and it did not sit well with me,” he told reporters after his second round came to an end.
“I only ate the lasagne. I thought maybe have a little pasta and stuff, but for some reason it didn’t sit well with me and I just felt nauseous the whole front nine. In the afternoon, I felt like I was going to vomit pretty much on every hole.”
Tottenham Hotspur infamously missed out on UEFA Champions League qualification on the final day of the 2005/06 Premier League season after the team suffered from a bout of food poisoning courtesy of another dodgy lasagne.
Lasagne gate struck again at West Lancs and Garcia slumped to a three-over 75 to finish well short of the five spots available for Royal Birkdale in two weeks.
“I thought about stopping after nine,” he added. “But I thought, well, let’s play a couple more and see if I get something going, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.”
Garcia is still motivated to qualify for the Open Championship, where he lost in a playoff to Pádraig Harrington in 2007. He feels he may need to find an alternative route than Final Qualifying and the world number 165 has set his sights on the world’s top-50 to earn his spot.
“I try to go year by year and see how I feel,” he said of the 36-hole event. “But obviously I love the open and I want to give myself as many chances as possible to play it. Ideally, hopefully I’ll keep playing well and get in the top 50 in the world and then I won’t have to worry about coming in and qualifying”
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