Exclusive: Sergio Garcia is putting all his Open eggs in one basket at LIV Golf Dallas

Sergio Garcia has Open Championship fate in his own hands at LIV Golf Dallas this week. 

Garcia, 45, holds a narrow six-point lead over Lucas Herbert in the race for one precious spot in the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush from 17-20 July via the LIV Golf standings.

The Fireballs GC captain ranks fourth heading into this week's final qualifying event in Texas, a state where he resides with his family. 

But the top three players - Joaquin Niemann, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm - are safely assured of their places at The Open.

That means Garcia is in the driving seat. 

Garcia, who won his second LIV Golf title in Hong Kong in March, has accumulated 78 points on the individual LIV Golf standings. 

Herbert then trails in fifth place with 71.90 points, just ahead of Sebastian Munoz (69.38), Carlos Ortiz (66) and Marc Leishman (64.86). 

A total of 40 points are awarded to the winner of each LIV Golf event, with second place earning 30 points and third 24 points.

Therefore a lot could change this Sunday, especially with points being distributed to the top 24 players on the leaderboard. 

Here's how the top 10 shapes up heading into the final counting Open qualifying event at LIV Golf Dallas: 

But what adds to the pressure even more for Garcia this week, is that he has chosen to pass up the opportunity of competing in Open Final Qualifying next Tuesday.

Garcia has attempted 36-hole Open Final Qualifying at West Lancs the past two years, but he has narrowly missed out each time.

Open Final Qualifying this year takes place two days before Garcia makes his long-awaited return to the DP World Tour in Germany. 

Garcia wants to be sharp for that, and he has therefore decided to put all his Open Championship eggs in one basket this week. 

"Yeah, excited about the week ahead, obviously I need a solid week to not only keep moving in the right direction but to also make The Open," Garcia told GolfMagic.  

"Obviously that would be amazing. I've just got to believe and have fun out there." 

As Garcia mentions, moving forwards with his game is of huge importance right now.

Not only to just make The Open but to also keep his Ryder Cup ambitions alive. 

Having now paid off his fines, Garcia is once again a member of the DP World Tour and he will return to action at next week's BMW International Open in Munich. 

It will mark Garcia's first event back on the former European Tour since the BMW PGA Championship in September 2022. 

Garcia has also confirmed to GolfMagic he will return to the Spanish Open for the first time since 2019. 

Over the next two months, Garcia will be eager to show European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald that his game is still in working order for a potential captain's pick.

Donald will make his six captain's picks at the end of August after the Betfred British Masters. 

Garcia knows getting into The Open and playing well there will likely go a long way for his chances of making the team. 

The Spaniard has not played in The Open since a T68 at the 150th Open at St Andrews in 2022.

Garcia played in The Masters in April as a result of his past champion (2017) status, and he then received a special invite to compete in the PGA Championship in May. 

He missed the cut at The Masters and then went on to finish T67 at the PGA.

After golf's second major of the season at Quail Hollow Club, a frustrated Garcia admitted he was not happy with his game and that he would tell 2025 European Ryder Cup captain Donald to not pick him on current form. 

Garcia's game may have dipped of late with indifferent finishes of third, 50th, 42nd, 67th and 38th in his last five starts, but there can be no denying his Ryder Cup pedigree. 

Garcia is the all-time Ryder Cup record points scorer with 28.5 points.

Should he receive one of Donald's six captain's picks, then he would join Sir Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood for a joint record 11 appearances on a European Ryder Cup team. 

The 2025 Ryder Cup is being staged at Bethpage Black, a venue where Garcia finished fourth at the 2002 US Open. 

How Garcia would dearly love to find himself in that same position in the standings on Sunday.