18 Irishmen will tee it up across four venues in Great Britain on Tuesday, each hoping to earn a place at Royal Portrush for the 153rd Open Championship in a fortnight’s time.
Burnham and Berrow Golf Club in Somerset, West Lancashire, Royal Cinque Ports in Kent, and Dundonald Links in Scotland will each host 72 players and offer up five qualification spots, meaning 268 of the 288 players teeing it up will go home empty handed.
Niall Kearney, who secured one of the two final places in a playoff at the Regional Qualifier at The Island, will be flying solo at Burnham and Berrow, as will Portrush native Graeme McDowell at Royal Cinque Ports.
DP World Tour player Conor Purcell, along with Paul McBride, Alex Maguire and Ronan Mullarney, each of whom made it through the Regional Qualifier at The Island, and Edmondstown amateur Thomas Abom comprise the five Irishmen in action at West Lancashire, but it’s at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire where the vast majority of the 17 will be competing.
Rowan Lester, Brendan McCarroll, Keith Shannon, Ruaidhri McGee and amateur Finlay Eager all booked their spots at The Island, while Liam Nolan and Dermot McElroy’s HotelPlanner Tour rankings allowed them to skip the Regional Qualifier.
John Murphy and Michael McGeady found themselves on the alternate list but have since been admitted, while Dundalk’s Caolan Rafferty and Amateur Championship runner-up Gavin Tiernan complete the lineup hoping to join Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Darren Clarke, Pádraig Harrington and Tom McKibbin at Portrush.
Other marquee names in the Final Qualifier include former Ryder Cup players Paul Casey and Chris Wood at Burnham and Berrow, Lee Westwood, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Jamie Donaldson and Alex Noren at Dundonald Links, Danny Willett at West Lancashire, and Ian Poulter joining former teammate McDowell at Royal Cinque Ports. The Postman will also be joined by his son, Luke, who narrowly missed out at the Final Stage of U.S. Open Qualifying last month.
Leave a comment