After a long week in Muinch at the BMW International Open, followed by a late flight on Sunday night and an early wake up call on Monday morning, you could be thinking this isnt the best preparation for what is one of the biggest days in a British professionals golfing career.
International Final Qualifying (IFQ) is open to anyone who currently has any world ranking points and the top 96 players in the world ranking who enter all play 36 holes on a Monday to determine the 9 players who will that year gain entry into The Open Championship. IFQ events are held all around the world but today saw Europe host its event at the magnificent Sunningdale Golf Club.
Players began their opening rounds from 6.30am in order to get in the required two rounds and Champions of Golf were delighted to be represented by Marc Warren, Graeme Storm and Scott Jamieson.
Unfortunately Marc and Graeme narrowly missed out on their place in the top 9 however one ma who certainly did not was Scott Jamieson. However after a two over par opening round the initial signs were not good. Yet Scott showed why he is in the worlds top 100 best players and currently ranked 13th on the European Tour's Race to Dubai Order of Merit by shooting a second round of four under par, giving him a two under par total and a tie for 7th place, more than enough to seal his place in a second Open Championship. He did leave it quite late, as one of the last to finish Scott closed out the final five holes in three under par after an eagle at the 14th and a birdie at the last hole, meaning he qualified automatically avoiding a nailbiting playoff.
Scott's fellow qualifiers are: Brooks Koepka, Oliver Fisher, Gregory Bourdy, Gareth Maybin, Richard McEvoy, Alvaro Quiros, Niclas Fasth and Estanislao Goya who secured his place from the four man playoff beating Ross Fisher, Alejandro Canizares and David Drysdale to the last illusive place.
This years Open Championship takes place at Muirfield and runs from the 18th to the 21st July. To book your tickets please visit the R&A website at the following link.
Champions of Golf would like to congratulate Scott on his wonderful achievement and we look forward to supporting him at another major championship.