OWGR: Sergio Garcia drops out of top 100 for first time since 1999

The fall of Sergio Garcia continues — literally.

For the first time since 1999, the 2017 Masters winner has dropped out of the top 100 in the latest Official World Golf ranking, ending a streak that spanned 23 years and 21 weeks (1,221 weeks).

Garcia entered the top 100 at 19 years old, following his first European Tour win, and remained among the best in the world until this week, at the age of 42.

While not the longest top 100 streak — Phil Mickelson owns that at more than 27.5 years (1,439 weeks) — it’s the end of a remarkable stretch that saw Garcia go from teen star to Europe’s all-time leading points scorer in the Ryder Cup to LIV defector.

Since bolting for the rival league this summer (in somewhat dramatic fashion), Garcia has dropped from 55th to now 103rd. He ended 2021, when he was still a member of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, at No. 45. Since playing in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational in June, he’s competed in only four tournaments that offer OWGR points, with his best finish being a T-48 at the BMW International Open.

Garcia has the distinction of being just the third golfer to have been inside the top 100 in four decades, joining Mickelson and Vijay Singh.

Whether Garcia ever makes a return to the top 100 is unclear, as LIV Golf events have yet to be granted OWGR points. He has resigned his PGA Tour card and has lost membership on the DP World Tour due to not fulfilling the renewal requirements.

In other OWGR news, there wasn’t much movement this week, but Tony Finau did jump a spot to No. 11, just two weeks after winning the Cadence Bank Houston Open by four strokes.