At least nine Irish make Final Qualifying for The Open
The Claret Jug. Picture: The R&A
At least nine Irish players will compete in Final Qualifying for The Open at four venues across England on Tuesday.
Royal Dublin’s Hugh Foley is exempt following his Irish Amateur Close win at Rosapenna last year and will be one of 288 players competing for 12 spots in the field at Royal St George’s with three places up for grabs at each of the four Final Qualifying venues — Hollinwell, Prince’s, St Annes Old Links and West Lancashire.
Foley will tee it up at West Lancashire where he will be joined by Elm Park amateur Robert Galligan.
However, the final fields for the other three venues will not be decided until later today as Local Qualifying, divided into eight events at the same four venues on Saturday and Sunday, spilt over into a third day.
On Saturday, Chartridge Park’s Noel Quinn (72, T19) qualified at Prince’s as Kilkenny’s Luke Donnelly (67, T2) came through at St Annes Old Links and Royal Dublin amateur Richard Knightly (69, T5) qualified at West Lancashire.
On Sunday, Tyler Hogarty (69, T3) and Donegal’s Brendan McCarroll (71, T10) came through at Hollinwell.
Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy shot a four-under 68 to tie for first in the battle for 28 spots at West Lancashire on Sunday where Galway’s Ronan Mullarney and Galligan tied for 10th after level par 72s.
Today, former Irish Close runner-up Eoin Leonard competes in a nine-man playoff for the last two of 25 spots after he tied for 24th on two-over after a 74 in Sunday’s weather-delayed local qualifier at Prince’s.
Due to darkness, three players must return to St Annes Old Links today to battle for the last of 25 spots in Final Qualifying.
Each individual Final Qualifying venue will have a field of 72, with the top three players at Hollinwell, Prince’s, St Annes Old Links and West Lancashire claiming those coveted 12 places alongside defending champion Shane Lowry and former Open champions Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy and Pádraig Harrington at Royal St George’s from July 15-18.
Due to existing international travel measures and the requirement to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 transmission, golfers who have entered Final Qualifying in England on 29 June are now being offered alternative opportunities to earn places in The 149th Open if they are also intending to play in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open (July 1-4), Kaskada Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic (July 1-4) or the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France (July 8-11).
The three leading non-exempt golfers qualifying at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the leading non-exempt golfer qualifying at the Kaskada Golf Challenge and Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge will earn spots in the field at Sandwich.
The 149th Open Championship, Royal St George’s, Kent, July 15-18
Local Final Qualifying
Hollinwell Saturday - 25 players qualified
Prince’s Saturday - 25 players qualified
St Annes Old Links Saturday - 26 players qualified
West Lancashire Saturday - 29 players qualified
Hollinwell Sunday - 24 players qualified
Prince’s Sunday - 25 spots available. Due to inclement weather, the play off will begin at 08:30 on Monday 28 June (9 players for 2 spots)
St Annes Old Links - 25 spots available. Due to darkness the play off will resume at 08:00 Monday 28 June (3 players remain for 1 spot). Fraser Macleod, Mark Pullan, Ross Crowe, Sam Avery, Will Marshall, Rob Booth have already qualified.
West Lancashire - 28 players qualified
Final Qualifying - Draw
For 12 spots (3 at each venue) after 36 holes of stroke play