Hlas: Four ex-Hawkeyes beat Sergio Garcia in U.S. Open qualifier

CEDAR RAPIDS — Sergio Garcia is a fine golfer, but was no match for Sean McCarty Monday.

The longtime head pro at Coralville's Brown Deer Golf Club outscored Garcia and 73 other players in the U.S. Open local qualifier at the Cedar Rapids Country Club, and joined three other players in advancing to June 6 sectional qualifying that will determine spots for the June 16-10 Open in Oakmont, Pa.

OK, it wasn't THAT Sergio Garcia, not the winner of 28 professional tourneys globally. Instead, it was a junior on the St. Ambrose University men's golf team, who carded a 79 on the course that played at par-72 Monday.

A 79 wasn't too bad this day, with the course playing fast and firm and the greens slick, to say the least. McCarty got the fourth and final qualifying spot with a 75. He finished the round with a couple of unsatisfying pars and didn't believe it when he was told he might want to hang around the course a while to see if he finished in the top four.

'I thought I had no prayer,' McCarty said. 'Then I watched the scores come in, and wow.'

This isn't McCarty's first push at a U.S. Open berth. He said 'it's got to be six times' he has advanced out of a local qualifier to a sectional. In 2003, he made the Open field.

'It seems like yesterday,' McCarty said. That journey began with a local qualifier at the CRCC. He's 43 now, and still has game.

'I like to compete,' he said.

When told he beat Sergio Garcia, McCarty said 'That's hilarious. I beat Mickelson, too.'

No, not Phil Mickelson. Matt Mickelson of Lamoni shot 79.

The other players who advanced Monday were Nate McCoy of Ankeny and Charlie Delsman of Hartland, Wis., who had 73s, and Aaron Krueger of Des Moines, who shot a 74.

Like McCarty, Krueger is a former University of Iowa golfer. McCarty was an All-American for the Hawkeyes in 1995. Krueger, the head pro at Des Moines' Wakonda Club, graduated in 2003. 'He's a young pup,' McCarty said.

Ex-Hawkeyes Gene Elliott and Steven Ihm shot 76s.

'I'm very surprised,' Krueger said about qualifying with his score. 'The golf course played incredibly hard today.'

Krueger qualified for the PGA Championship in 2014. This is the first time he has advanced out of an Open local qualifier.

So what about this Sergio Garcia fellow? Like the famous one, he is from Spain. This Sergio left home to play on the men's golf team at Ashford University in Clinton, then transferred to St. Ambrose in Davenport after Ashford dropped its golf program.

He shot a 70 for St. Ambrose at Quad Cities' TPC Deere Run in the second round of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship, and was the tourney's runner-up. He'll play the same course with the Fighting Bees on May 24-27 in the NAIA National Championships.

He said came to Cedar Rapids 'for the experience of being able to say I played in a U.S. qualifier.'

'Even though I didn't play that well, I liked the course. It felt like I was playing in a U.S. Open.'

Naturally, Garcia is often asked or teased about his name.

'The first couple of holes, players always joke about it,' he said. 'It's funny.'

'When I saw the tee times I said 'Hey!' It sits in the back of your mind for a second,' said Tanner Megal, assistant pro at CRCC and one of Garcia's playing partners Monday.

'He's a real good player, too.'

The amateur Sergio met the pro Sergio in 2010 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. The older Garcia's manager noticed the boy when he saw he was wearing a Spanish flag on his clothing.

After the boy showed the manager an ID with his name on it, a meeting of the Sergio Garcias was arranged. The boy was the recipient of a hat, gloves and golf balls from his namesake.

'He's a really nice guy, and a pretty good role model to follow,' Garcia said.

But what else would you expect Sergio Garcia to say about Sergio Garcia?