Full marks to Simon Dyson, who plays in this week’s Open Championship after leading the field in the final qualifying event.
It means that 12 of our 17 clients will be at Troon - four more than our previous best when eight won through to play in the 2000 Open at St.Andrews. Obviously the new qualifying procedures suit our players more than the old ones did.
Simon worked out that his best chance of getting through would be in the final event rather than the International Qualifier at Sunningdale which attracted a European Tour-strength field including the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer and Justin Rose. With one or two tweaks here and there, the new system means that the players who should be in The Open, will be.
What a pity that England’s John E Morgan will not be at Troon. He would have been delighted by the response of our players including Darren and Lee in his attempt to get through by being the leading non-exempt player at last weekend’s John Deere Classic in America.
Several of our other players were also glued to the television at the ISM host house in Troon as John birdied four of the last five holes to force a play-off. His fist pumping and high fiving earned a cheer from our boys every time he sank a putt and they were all disappointed when he just missed out in the play-off.
John really looked as if he wanted to be at The Open and he would have definitely added to the event.
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