Reed, Garcia focus on The Open qualification at Macau

Macau, China – Qualification for The Open Championship is 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, captain of Fireballs GC, and Patrick Reed, a member of 4Aces GC, 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.

“This is an important week," said Garcia, who recently won the individual title at LIV Golf Hong Kong. "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 favorite 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.”

Not only did Garcia win the individual title at LIV Golf Hong Kong, he also celebrated his Fireballs GC’s team victory. The team has won three consecutive events after winning in Singapore last week.

Reed also has had success in the area, having won the LINK Hong Kong Open in 2024 at Hong Kong Golf Club.

Garcia finished T21 in last year’s Macau event with Reed finishing fourth, just three shots behind eventual champion John Catlin, a LIV Golf reserve player, and Fireballs GC's David Puig.

Reed, who won the 2018 Masters and is 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.

“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," Reed said. "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.”

International Series Macau presented by Wynn takes place from March 20-23. Entry is free for all four days. Click here to register.

For more information on The International Series, click here.

(Photos courtesy of Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour)