British Open Final Qualifying: Five amateurs punch a ticket to Royal Troon
Matthew Dodd-Berry (Royal and Ancient Photo)
Final qualifying for the 152nd Open at Royal Troon in 2024 took place at Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports, and West Lancashire. All in all, 16 golfers (four from each site) punched their tickets to the major championship.
All golfers played 36 holes to earn one of the four spots open at each qualifying site. Of the 16 golfers that qualified, five were amateurs, including one who narrowly missed earning a spot in the Open Championship field last week.
Burnham & Berrow
After finishing just short of earning a spot at Royal Troon at the British Amateur, Dominic Clemons stepped up and finished as the co-medalist with Justin Rose at Burnham and Berrow. Clemons shot 8-under with rounds of 66-68 to tie Rose. LIV golfers Anirban Lahiri and Abraham Ancer earned the final two qualifying spots.
“My mindset wasn’t particularly good," Clemons told the R&A. "It was weird, it was reminding me of the final I lost."
Clemons added, "In the practice round, I was saying if I’d just played better in that final, I wouldn’t even be here. I would have made it a lot easier for myself. But I played well today."
In addition to his runner-up finish at the British Amateur, Clemons won the Scottish Open Amateur by a stunning 17 shots. Clemons is currently ranked No. 114 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
Dundonald Links
At Dundonald Links, 2023, walker cupper Liam Nolan of Ireland finished T2 to earn a spot at Royal Troon. Nolan shot rounds of 69-70 to finish 5-under and three shots back of medalist Sam Hutsby.
Nolan won the 2023 South American Amateur and recently finished in eleventh place at the European Amateur.
West Lancashire
This was a crowded leaderboard at West Lancashire, as golfers who finished two shots out of medalist honors did earn one of the four qualifying spots. Matthew Dodd-Berry earned co-medalist honors with Sam Horsfield at 6-under. Dodd-Berry shot rounds of 69-69 to get to 6-under to tie Horsfield.
Dodd-Berry recently made the quarterfinals of the British Amateur and made the final 32 at the 2023 English Amateur.
Royal Cinque Ports
This was the only qualifier in which two amateurs qualified, with Jaime Montojo Fernandez and Luis Masaveu earning spots at the Open Championship. Fernandez finished T2 at 3-under, and Masaveu finished T4 at 2-under, earning his spot in a playoff.
Masaveu won the 2024 Portuguese International Amateur is ranked No. 32 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
ABOUT THE
British Open Final Qualifying
36 hole stroke play qualifier for professionals and
amateurs held at multiple sites in England and
Scotland. Preceded by 18 hole regional qualifying
held
at various sites across the UK and Ireland the
previous
week.
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