Mark Calcavecchia had an an automatic spot in the 2014 Open Championship field as a past winner who is less than 60 years old. Unfortunately, the 1989 champion was unable to make the trip to Royal Liverpool Golf Club in the United Kingdom. You can blame American Airlines for that.
On Tuesday, Calcavecchia revealed on Twitter that he would be unable to make it to Hoylake in time because his flight had been cancelled.
Right now I thought I'd be on 3rd hole of mini practice rd at the Open!! Best we could do is a flight to West Palm Beach. #americanairsucks
— Mark Calcavecchia (@MarkCalc) July 15, 2014
Totally depressed I can't be at my fave tourney in the world!! American Airlines killed us for no reason weather was fine #dontgetit
— Mark Calcavecchia (@MarkCalc) July 15, 2014
Calcavecchia was forced to withdraw from the major because of the change in flight schedule. While he was clearly unhappy with American Airlines, he did take the time to congratulate first alternate David Hearn for earning a spot in the field.
At age 54, Calcavecchia was not going to win the Open Championship. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have liked to compete, and he did finish in the top 10 back in 2012. Golfers having problems with airlines is nothing new — just ask Rory McIlroy.
H/T Eye on Golf
