Garcia and Reed set sights on The Open qualification as Macau showdown looms

Qualification for The Open Championship is clearly on the minds of the players in the field this week for International Series Macau presented by Wynn, with three spots up for grabs at the second elevated event of 10 on The International Series in 2025.

Major champions Sergio Garcia and Patrick Reed are two of the standout players in this week’s 156-man field at Macau Golf and Country Club, and both are eager to take the opportunity offered by The International Series and Asian Tour.

Garcia, the 2017 Masters winner, said: “This is an important week. It's a great tournament, it’s a very good field, and also with those three spots up for grabs for The Open Championship, it’s important. It’s my favourite major, so I would love to be back in it, with not playing the last couple of years. So I'm going to give it my best shot this week.

“Obviously we all love to play in the majors and be a part of them and give ourselves a shot at it. So to have the opportunity of qualifying here with these three top spots it's huge and it just shows the growth of the Asian Tour and how important it is with the quality of players that we have here. So it should be a great week.”

Garcia was recently in the winner’s circle at LIV Golf Hong Kong at Hong Kong Golf Club, a course that Reed also found success on having won the LINK Hong Kong Open in 2024. The Spaniard won the individual trophy at Fanling, and also celebrated his Fireballs GC’s team victory – the second of three victories on the bounce.

Garcia finished T21 in last year’s Macau showpiece with Reed finishing in fourth position, just three shots behind eventual champion John Catlin and David Puig, with his American compatriot coming out on top in a nail-biting play-off.

The 2018 Masters winner Reed, a regular on The International Series, echoed Garcia’s thoughts on the extra motivation he has coming into the event this week, with The Open spots up for grabs for the top three eligible players.

Reed said: “I feel like any time you have an opportunity to qualify for a major it just gives you extra motivation to go out and have a little bit more drive to go out and try make those putts and play your best game, because at the end of the day, they’re the four events that we're trying to always play.

“Last year was the first time I didn't play a major since my first one - which was 42 straight and you know, to only be able to play two of the majors last year, it will mean a lot to get back on that run. Hopefully we can have some more fireworks this week to get there.”