Open Final Qualifying: The surprise names looking to get to Royal Portrush

Last year shone a real light on Final Qualifying with Justin Rose and Dan Brown going on to enjoy spectacular weeks at Royal Troon.

Rose would come through at Burnham & Berrow before tying for second while Brown, who was almost the story of the week in Scotland, emerged from 36 holes at West Lancs and then claimed a share of 10th.

Once again, the 288 hopefuls will be spread across the same four venues, Royal Cinque Ports and Dundonald Links make up the quartet, and there will be 72 players at each venue on Tuesday, July 1.

At the end of the 36 holes, the leading five players will stamp their tickets to Royal Portrush and, in the event of a tie, a sudden-death play-off will take place.

Burnham & Berrow 

Last year, four players would make it through, and, along with Rose, Abraham Ancer made his way to Troon. This year, the Mexican is in a stellar three-ball along with Chris Wood and Eddie Pepperell. The two Englishmen have both enjoyed huge weeks at The Open, with Wood coming a lot closer than many remember at Turnberry in 2009.

Otherwise, look out for an in-form Harry Hall or maybe Brandon Robinson-Thompson.

Dundonald Links

Once upon a time, Jamie Donaldson and Lee Westwood paired up in the Ryder Cup. Now they will be back in Scotland but down the road, 75 miles away in Ayrshire.

Also in the field is fellow LIV star Adrian Meronk, who is in a must-watch three-ball of Alex Noren and American amateur Stewart Hagestad.

Bizarrely, the biggest crowds may well be with YouTuber Peter Finch, who topped the Regional Qualifying at Caldy.

Royal Cinque Ports

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is on the fringes of the European Ryder Cup team and well up the Race to Dubai rankings, but he’ll be pegging it up in Kent in a three-ball with Graeme McDowell.

The headlines will likely go to the Poulter family with son Luke joining the proverbial Postman down on the south coast. They haven’t been paired together, thankfully, with dad Ian off out with Erik van Rooyen and Tom Lewis.

West Lancs

Former Masters champion  Danny Willett is part of the set-up in the North West as he looks to get back to Portrush, where he was sixth in 2019. Otherwise, the leading names are those from the LIV circuit with Harold Varner III, Lucas Herbert, Sam Horsfield and Andy Ogletree trying their luck.

READ MORE: Who is going to make the US and European Ryder Cup teams?

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