Major boost for Dubai Duty Free Irish Open — 3 spots in The Open up for grabs

Shane Lowry wins The Open at Royal Portrush

The R&A will offer three additional qualifying places into The 149th Open at Royal St George's at next month’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open - a boost for the event at Mount Juliet from July 1-4.

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 in Ireland (1-4 July), Kaskada Golf Challenge in Czech Republic (1-4 July) or the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France (8-11 July).

Those golfers withdrawing from Final Qualifying will now be able to earn places in golf's original championship through these events on the European Tour and European Challenge Tour, with 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.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director -- Championships at The R&A, said, "We know that there are a number of golfers who have entered Final Qualifying who are planning to travel separately to England and then onto Ireland, Czech Republic or France to play in the scheduled tour events shortly after.

"Having considered the existing international travel measures carefully, including contact tracing protocols, we believe that there is a greater risk that, when travelling by plane, players may have to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of a fellow passenger testing positive for Covid-19.

"With that in mind, we have agreed a solution with the European Tour that significantly reduces the possibility of our events being jeopardised in any way by the risks associated with international air travel and provides players with alternative opportunities to qualify for The Open through the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Kaskada Golf Challenge and Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge."

Any golfers competing in Final Qualifying who do not secure one of the 12 places available for The 149th Open at these events will be unable to qualify through the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Kaskada Golf Challenge and Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.

The R&A has also confirmed that three places will now be available through the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open being played from 8-11 July at The Renaissance Club. Golfers who play in Final Qualifying and do not qualify for The 149th Open will have the chance to compete for these three places.  

The full list of exemptions for The 149th Open at Royal St George's is available via The Open.com