Fota Island amateur David Howard is Royal Birkdale-bound after he navigated the gruelling 36 holes of Open Championship Final Qualifying and secured his place at the game’s oldest championship.
With four venues hosting the final stages, and five qualifying spots available at each, Howard was one of four Irishmen competing at Dundonald Links in Scotland, alongside Ruaidhri McGee, Cian Geraghty, and fellow amateur Jordan Boles.
The other three saw their chances slide in the opening 18, but Howard, who won the East of Ireland Championship at Baltray in 2025, carded a three-under 69 to go into round two among the leading trio.
A fast start to round two saw him move to the head of the leaderboard at -7 facing into the closing stretch but two double bogeys sandwiched a birdie on 15 and this saw him reach the final hole at -4 and tied for second with a two-stroke cushion over the sixth-placed players.
A par was more than enough to see him punch his ticket and he’ll join fellow amateur Stuart Grehan at the 154th Open, along with Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Tom McKibbin, Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke.
Elsewhere, Alex Maguire birdied five of his final eight holes at West Lancashire, but that could only get him to -2 for the second round and -6 overall which left him tied for 13th, two shots outside a playoff for the fifth and final spot.
Liam Abom finished on +1 at the same venue, while Max Kennedy was the sole participant at Burnham & Berrow but a disappointing opening round saw him retire before completing round two.
John Gough, a former Irish Amateur Open champion and whose parents hail from Newry and Meath, came up one shot shy at Royal Cinque Ports having won his maiden HotelPlanner Tour title at the weekend.
Howard wasn’t the only amateur to advance. Dutchman Neville Ruiter finished a shot behind the Fota Island man at Dundonald Links and advanced as one of two players tied for fourth, while Spain’s Alejandro De Castro Piera shared third place at Burnham & Berrow.
Dundonald Links Scoring
Burnham & Berrow Scoring
West Lancashire Scoring
Royal Cinque Ports Scoring
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