Monday Leaderboard: Missed three-foot putt costs Sergio Garcia a spot in Open Championship

Viktor Hovland is in fine form after winning once again. (Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Welcome to the Monday Leaderboard, where we run down the weekend’s top stories in the wonderful world of golf. Grab an Arnold Palmer, pull up a chair and try not to think about how close the distance is between ecstasy and agony...

1. Viktor Hovland wins again at last; JT left heartbroken

Golf is a cruel and strange game. Viktor Hovland had missed the cut in his last three events. He hadn’t won since the Tour Championship way back in 2023. And yet here he was on Sunday at the Valspar Championship, mounting a three-birdies-in-four-holes charge in the final minutes of the tournament to win by a single stroke.

“I hit a lot of disgusting shots,” Hovland said afterward, “but they just happened to go where I look.” His world ranking fell from No. 4 all the way down to No. 19, but this should provide a nice bounceback.

At the other end of the joy spectrum stood Justin Thomas, who led by three with three holes to play and then went bogey-par-bogey to shoot himself right out of the tournament. Rough way to go, carding a 65-66 on the weekend, but it simply wasn’t his day. “I'm very, very proud of myself,” he said after his round. “It sucks not winning when you're that close and have a great chance, but I just hopefully put myself in the same position in two weeks at Augusta and finish it off better.”

Sergio Garcia, seen here in Singapore, couldn't quite punch his ticket to the Open. (Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)

2. Missed three-foot putt costs Sergio Garcia a spot in Open Championship

This one hurts. Sergio Garcia, the European golf legend currently plying his trade on the LIV Golf tour, needed only to sink a three-foot putt on the 18th green at the Asian Tour’s International Series Macau tournament. He missed, and that left the door open for a fellow LIV member, Jason Kokrak, to slip in and swipe an Open Championship exemption.

The International Series is a creation of LIV and the Asian Tour, and part of an R&A qualifying series designed to give LIV players a pathway into the Open. The top three LIV players at the tournament not already exempt into the Open would get their tickets punched. Carlos Ortiz won the event and Patrick Reed took second, claiming the first two spots. Garcia, who played in 22 consecutive Opens until 2023, could still claim a spot by remaining high in LIV’s individual points standings, but that’s by no means a sure thing. Ortiz and Kokrak weren’t exempted into any majors prior to this weekend, and Reed only had an exemption into the Masters as a past champion.

3. Adam Hadwin continues the PGA Tour’s reign of terror at the Valspar

What the hell’s going on at the Valspar Championship these days? After Patton Kizzire kicked a club into orbit and Sahith Theegala hurled one into the woods, now comes Adam Hadwin causing some carnage of his own. Frustrated at his performance, he decided to air out some rage on a sprinkler head. It didn’t go so well:

Received this via DM: Adam Hadwin learning the consequences of his actions on Friday at the Valspar Championship. pic.twitter.com/ZiitjOdao3
— Alex Gelman (@agsnetworks) March 22, 2025

Golf’s rapid transformation into a rage room is fascinating to behold.

4. TGL’s championship has arrived

As non-screen outdoor golf starts to hit high gear, TGL is wrapping up its first season with a two-night championship event starting Monday night at 9 ET. Thomas and Atlanta Drive GC will take on Xander Schauffele and New York Golf Club for the title, and you can bet on plenty of Braves-vs.-Yankees and Trae Young-vs.-Knicks references throughout the evenings. The lack of major star power—i.e. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy—will almost certainly hurt the ratings for the on-course product, but TGL has managed to carve out a niche in the ongoing golf-in-winter landscape. Much more to come on TGL later this week after the season wraps up.

5. Woods, Trump: Future golf royalty on display at junior invitational

If you want a look at the future of golf, check out the Sage Valley Invitational in South Carolina. Previous winners on the boys’ side have included players like Scottie Scheffler, Joaquin Niemann and Akshay Bhatia. Sixteen-year-old Miles Russell won the tourney this year, but with all due respect to him, the story most of the week was the performance of Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, and Kai Trump, granddaughter of the president. Woods, still a high school sophomore, finished T25 out of 36 players, while Trump finished 24th, in last place in her division and 59 points behind girls’ winner Aphrodite Zeng.

Tour Trophy of the Week: Valspar Championship

Viktor's prize. (Brennan Asplen/Getty Images)

A solid and respectable tournament deserves a solid and respectable trophy. Artsy, even, with the swoosh of paint ending in a golf ball there. That thing looks like it would hurt if someone swung it at you, which is the way we judge all trophies. And to hear Hovland tell it, the trophy almost ended up in someone else's hands this week: "Wasn't really sure if I was going to play or not until I got here Tuesday afternoon and played a late nine holes," he said. "I played nine holes in the pro-am the next morning and we were here ready to go. But, yeah, wasn't sure I was going to show up, but I'm glad I did." And now he has some new hardware to show for it.

Shot of the Week: An ace from way downtown

Is there any more appropriate way to pay tribute to March Madness on the golf course than by nailing a shot that hits nothing but cup? Nice work here by Sam Ryder on the 204-yard, par-3 17th at Innisbrook on Saturday:

MADNESS!

A slam-dunk ace for @SamRyderSU on the 17th hole @ValsparChamp! 🏀 pic.twitter.com/743fu88wuJ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 22, 2025

That ace was part of a jagged scorecard for Ryder — four bogeys, three birdies and an eagle — en route to a 70 on the day. Ryder would go on to finish T16, seven strokes back of Hovland.

Coming this week: PGA Tour: Texas Children’s Houston Open; LPGA: Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass (Arizona); TGL: Finals, Atlanta Drive GC vs. New York Golf Club.

Topics

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Sergio Garcia's missed 3-foot putt cost him a spot in the Open Championship.
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