A YouTube golf star, a former Amateur Champion and multiple DP World Tour winners have been confirmed in the line-up for the Last-Chance Qualifier ahead of The Open.
The R&A launched a new event this year to finalise the last qualifier in the field for The Open, with 12 players set to battle it out on Monday morning at Royal Birkdale to secure the final major spot.
The invites to the 18-hole event have been based around five exemption categories, with Wesley Bryan – one half of the popular Bryan Bros YouTube channel – among those included after narrowly missing out on a spot through Final Qualifying last month.
Wesley Bryan will feature in The Open’s Last-Chance Qualifier
Bryan, who last qualified for The Open in the 2017 and hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since being suspended for featuring in a LIV Golf influencers event, finished one shot outside of the qualification spots at West Lancashire but now gets another chance to earn a major invite.
South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter – the Amateur Champion in 2022 and a PGA Tour winner last year – earned his spot via the Official World Golf Rankings, with the world No 77 the highest-ranked player not already exempt at the cut-off.
Matti Schmid also earned his place via the world rankings, a month on from a top-five finish at the US Open, with Spanish duo Adri Arnaus and Angel Hidalgo both looking to return to The Open after narrowly missing out in Final Qualifying.
Joe Dean and Andrew Wilson will also feature at Royal Birkdale, with Charles Huntzinger, John Gough and Marcus Helligkilde the other professionals involved after falling short in Final Qualifying of an automatic spot.
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A look back at Final Qualifying, where Sergio Garcia was among the notable names to miss out
Two amateurs will complete the line-up, as Amateur Championship runner-up Matt Moloney and England’s Sam Easterbrook both feature, with the winner of Monday’s Last-Chance Qualifier then in the field for The Open that week.
The field is subject to change between now and the Last-Chance Qualifier, while the draw for the Last-Chance Qualifier announced on Saturday. Highlights will be available on Sky Sports Golf later that evening.
Last-Chance Qualifier field
Correct as of July 7; (x) denotes amateurs
Adri Arnaus, Wesley Bryan, Joe Dean, Sam Easterbrook (x), John Gough, Marcus Helligkilde, Angel Hidalgo, Charles Huntzinger, Matt Moloney (x), Aldrich Potgieter, Matti Schmid, Andrew Wilson.
When is The Open live on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports is once again the exclusive home of The Open in the UK and Ireland, with over 75 hours of live coverage from across the seven days of tournament week at Royal Birkdale.
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Sir Nick Faldo bumped into Rory McIlroy at Royal Birkdale and asked about his preparations ahead of The Open. X credit @Sir_NickFaldo
Live coverage begins at 9am for each of the three practice days, before wall-to-wall action from the final men’s major of the year gets under way at 6.30am on Thursday July 16 on Sky Sports Golf.
There will be at least 15 hours of action on both the first two rounds, with bonus feeds available on Sky Sports+ or the Sky Sports App, with extended coverage then starting at 9am on Saturday July 18 and 8am on Sunday July 19.
Who will win The 154th Open? Watch exclusively live from July 16-19 on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
