Richie Ramsay, David Drysdale and Ryan Fox all earned spots in The Open thanks to high finishes at this week’s DDF Irish Open.
There were three spots available via the Open Qualifying Series to players among the top 10 who were not otherwise exempt into the field at Royal Birkdale. The first of those spots went to Ramsay, the 2006 U.S. Amateur winner who closed with a 65 to share second place alongside Matthew Southgate, who made the field via 36-hole final qualifying on Tuesday.
Ramsay will be making his seventh career Open appearance, and his fifth in the last six years.
Drysdale made the day’s biggest climb up the standings, as the Scot vaulted 25 places thanks to a final-round 63 that included seven birdies to finish. Drysdale ended up in a tie for fourth at 17 under, and at age 42 he’ll return to The Open for the first time since a T-60 finish at Turnberry in 2009.
The final berth went to Fox, who narrowly missed out on qualifying last week at the French Open. The Kiwi closed with a 68 to share fourth with Drysdale and Justin Rose, and he will be making his Open debut later this month.
The man on the outside looking in was 54-hole co-leader Daniel Im, who was in position to qualify for Royal Birkdale heading to the 72nd hole. But a closing bogey left him among that tie for fourth, and he missed out on qualifying because his world ranking entering the week (542) was behind that of both Fox (149) and Drysdale (347).
The Open Qualifying Series will continue Sunday with four spots awarded at The Greenbrier Classic, and three more spots will be up for grabs next week on the European Tour at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
The Open will be held July 20-23 in Southport, England.
Source: Internet
