Final Qualifying: 20 Are Headed To The Open
Four players pull off a rare feat while several amateurs, journeyman, total unknowns and an ex-Army service member are among those headed to the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
The traditional mix of inspired stories and genuine shockers made it through to the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.
Before we get to the 20 golfers who survived 36-holes of Final Qualifying, a special shout-out goes to four who made it through both U.S. Open and The Open Final Qualifying: Matthew Jordan, James Nicholas, Caleb Surratt and Peter Uihlein.
According to GolfChannel.com’s Brentley Romine, who noticed the usual number of golfers to pull off the rare double, “the last time even one player got through both final qualifiers in the same year was Brandon Wu in 2019.” Wu did so as an amateur. Either way, a tip of the cap to the four for pulling off such a rare accomplishment.
Burnham & Berrow
Par 71/Yardage 6,910/Rating 74.6/Slope 129
Burnham & Berrow got its current name in 1910 in salute to the golf club’s straddling of two towns: Burnham-on-the-Sea and Berrow. Makes sense!
The southernmost qualifying site has had a lively design history upended by changes in the ball and frustration with its excessive number of blind shots. “Whenever a golfing conversation turns upon blind holes, and one party boasts of the giant sand hills and deep valleys of any particular course, it is almost certain that another will say, ‘Ah, but you should just see Burnham in Somerset,’” wrote Bernard Darwin in The Golf Courses of the British Isles.
H. S. Colt and C.H. Alison rejiggered the place to produce what players faced during a lively weather day, labeled by American qualifier Austin Truslow as a “six seasons” test featuring shifting directions along with a mix of sun and showers. A fittingly eclectic mix emerged, including three Americans.
Fresh off qualifying and making the U.S. Open weekend for the second straight year, James Nicholas medaled with rounds of 65-67. The Scarsdale, New York golfer who played at Yale is currently No. 16 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. “We had four seasons in one hole—at 3, we had cold, then hot, then wind, rain and almost hail,” Nicholas said after facing tough conditions coming home. “I love links golf, it is the purest test of golf, it is almost like a religious experience – on this course, there is even a church at 12!” He’ll be making his Open debut at Birkdale. “The Open is the ultimate test of golf. I have never experienced it, never watched it live on-site. To be able to go there and test my game against the best in the world is really exciting.”
Caleb Surratt starred at Tennessee and for the USA Walker Cup team at St Andrews but has been largely forgotten since joining LIV’s Legion XIII. Finishing a stroke behind Nicholas after rounds of 67-66, Surratt recorded a T63 at last month’s U.S. Open. “The Open means a lot, it’s going to be my second major and it’s always a tournament I’ve always enjoyed waking up at 4 a.m. and watching.”
Tom Sloman is the 918th-ranked golfer in the world who rolled into his home course Burnham & Berrow off two MC’s on the Hotel Planner Tour. The Englishman’s 69-65 will be a nice early birthday gift when he turns 30 next week. “It is one of the better days I’ve had,” he said. “I didn’t feel pressure [of having a large local support] at all, I quite enjoyed it. There must have been 50-100 people following me round and it was very nice of them to come out.”
Alejandro De Castro Piera of Spain and Long Beach State will make his major championship debut after his 134 total. “The conditions were relatively scoreable, especially the first 18, and the first nine of the second round but the back nine was where it got links-y,” the 60th-ranked amateur said. "“I can’t even tell you how much The Open means to me.”
Austin Truslow got engaged last week and the 30-year-old said he was close to giving up golf last year. Now the current New Zealand PGA champion, who turned up at Burnham & Berrow off an Asian Tour WD, will see a dream come true after considering giving up golf last year. He is now set for his first appearance in The Open and said it will be a “dream come true” to tee it up at Royal Birkdale. “We got engaged last week and our goal was to have an international trip this year,” he said. “I knew I was playing this qualifier, so I figured we’d do something in Europe and we’re going to go. Qualifying for The Open it might change our schedule a bit, she’s going to be like ‘the one week I get a vacation and you’ve got to practice’.”
Royal Cinque Ports
Par 72/Yardage 7,204/Rating 76.2/Rating 146
A mile-and-a-half from end-to-end, this magnificent links was founded 134 years ago with a name paying tribute to medieval trading towns, the two-time Open host and three-time Amateur Championship host will welcome many of the world’s best women Amateurs next June.
The course is often juxtaposed against more famous neighbor Royal St. George’s, “an unnecessary and invidious thing to do,” according to Darwin, who felt the “short holes at Deal are not its strong point, and it is those long, raking holes which we ought to have done in fours that leave the pleasantest memories.”
Plenty of pleasant memories were produced on a low-scoring day at RCP, where steady breezes and warm temperatures produced a shock medalist along with a practical Open lock at RCP.
The qualifiers:
Co-medalist Bard Bjornevik Skogen (68-64) is the 771st-ranked player in the world and came to fabled Royal Cinque Ports off a missed cut in the Hotel Planner Tour’s legendary Blot Play9. He’s recorded one top 20 finish this season on the HPT. So really it’s a question of just how many he was going to win by Deal! “I went to The Open in 2008 when it was at Birkdale so that was pretty special,” he said. “I watch The Open almost every year and I am a huge Justin Rose fan so two years ago at Royal Troon I was watching really closely.” Maybe someone can set him up with a practice round alongside the gold medal winner?
South African MJ Daffue also MC’d at the Blot Play9 but had been recording plenty of nice finishes while splitting time between Tours. The 37-year-old, 216th-ranked player in the world posted 67-65 to earn his first Open berth and just his second major championship invite. He was the 2011 Southland Conference player of the year for Lamar University. “I played smart but I also executed amazing shots coming down the stretch and that is testament to my practice and preparation, but also I live in Texas so I am used to the wind.”
Now a six-time Final Qualifying graduate, Matthew Southgate qualified at Royal Cinque Ports two years ago and will be returning to Royal Birkdale where he tied for sixth in 2017. That finish came a year after Southgate returned following a testicular cancer diagnosis and finished 12th. “It’s just incredible; I think I’m more emotional this time,” Southgate told TheOpen.com Radio. “I played some great golf in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, it really suits my game,” he said, adding that finishing as low Englishman that year was the “proudest moment of my life.” While his dad has passed he’s “so excited to take mom and family” back to Southport for The Open.
Peter Uihlein grabbed the final spot with rounds of 66-69 to earn his fourth Open start and first since 2018. The 36-year-old is among three LIV golfers to survive Final Qualifying and finished T44 when the Open was last played at Royal Birkdale. He recently made the cut at Shinnecock Hills to finish T56. “I was playing with ‘Gracey’ [Branden Grace, course record holder] the other day and we were talking about Birkdale. It’s a strong golf course. You have to drive it well, so we’ll see.”
Frenchman Antoine Rozner closed with three straight birdies and his second Open trip via Royal Cinque Ports (2023), with rounds of 69-67 for a total of eight-under-par 136. The 203rd-ranked European Tour golfer loves links. “I think I express myself better on links courses. I get very creative and I think that Royal Cinque Ports is a good example of that. You need to be strict with your target at times and hole putts when you have chances. I am really happy, I played super well.”
West Lancashire
Par 72/Yardage 7,000/Rating 75.4/Slope 140
As UK Golf Guy David Jones notes, this wonderful links gets lost a bit in a region with Hoylake and Formby’s dreamy 36 holes. One of the ten oldest clubs in England, West Lancashire was founded in 1873 by seven Royal Liverpool members and shared the same membership with the 13- time Open host.
