JOHANNESBURG - Louis de Jager was one of 12 players who punched their ticket to The Open Championship on Tuesday as he carded a 36-hole total of seven-under-par in the final qualifying event at the West Lancashire Club in Liverpool.
The Open Championship, after missing a year in 2020 through the Covid-19 pandemic, takes place at Royal St George’s in Sadnwich, Kent, from July 15 to 18.
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There were four events played simultaneously, with three players from each going through, and De Jager, a five-time winner on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour, came second at West Lancashire with rounds of five-under-par 67 and two-under-par 70 – and that included a quadruple-bogey nine on the par-five 11th in the second round.
He dropped just one stroke in his opening round on the 14th, and he was well on his way to perhaps even securing medallist honours after making three birdies on the front nine in his second round. But the quadruple-bogey was a setback, putting him back to one-over for the round. He made up good ground with three more birdies coming home to finish three behind medallist Nicholas Poppleton of England. Daniel Croft of England was the other qualifier for West Lancashire, finishing on six-under.
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The other qualifiers were Daniel Hillier of Australia, Jonathan Thomson and Richard Mansell of England at Hollinwell, Deyen Lawson of Australia, Sam Forgan and Connor Worsdall of England at Princes, and England’s Ben Hutchinson and amateur Sam Bairstow together with Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain at St Annes Old Links.
Unsuccessful South Africans included Hennie du Plessis, Nico Els, Connor Stoyell and James Mack.
African News Agency (ANA)