Final Qualifying

Two generations of the Poulter family, a former world No. 1, two major champions and a YouTube star are among those aiming to secure their place at The 153rd Open through Final Qualifying.

Burnham and Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire will host 36-hole stroke play events on Tuesday, 1 July, with 20 qualifying places at Royal Portrush available across the day - five at each venue.

Fans can follow all the action in our live blog, which will be available on The Open website from 6:30am on Tuesday, and also on Final Qualifying Radio, which will be broadcast on The Open App and R&A TV from 4.30pm.

Final Qualifying has continually delivered drama and some outstanding stories, with last year seeing Angel Hidalgo hole out for eagle at his final hole to book his Open spot while Matthew Southgate played his way into the Championship and five amateurs secured their place at Royal Troon.

Among the amateurs looking to do the same this year is Luke Poulter, son of 2008 runner-up Ian Poulter. Both will be teeing it up at Royal Cinque Ports.

Luke tees off from the 1st at 7.15am as he seeks atone for his disappointment in US Open qualifying, which saw him miss out on a place at Oakmont after losing a play-off.

Ian, meanwhile, goes from the 10th at 7.35am, with the hero of five Ryder Cup victories for Europe hoping to compete at The Open for the first time since 2022.

Also at Royal Cinque Ports is Graeme McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion seeking to once again play The Open in his homeland after finishing T57 at Portrush six years ago.

Southgate is aiming to come through Final Qualifying for a sixth time, while Kris Kim, who made the cut on his PGA Tour debut last year aged 16, will be very familiar with Royal Cinque Ports having recently reached the last 32 of The Amateur Championship, partially contested at that course. Kim progressed from Regional Qualifying at Bearwood Lakes.

Despite the presence of a former Open runner-up, it is a broadcaster and YouTube star who will arguably be among the main attractions at Dundonald.

Influencer Peter Finch, who has gained 740,000 followers on YouTube with his course vlogs, golfing challenges and matchups with pros, came through the significant test at Regional Qualifying to move a step closer to Royal Portrush.

Finch will have gained himself even more support with his performance at Caldy this week, which saw him finish joint top of the leaderboard with a one-under-par 71 in windy conditions.

His superb round featured birdies at the 4th, 7th and 16th, though the highlight was an eagle at the 11th that saw him atone for a wayward drive with an excellent approach shot.

The next test for Finch will be to hold his nerve with the stakes even higher, and among his competition at Dundonald will be several players who have already etched their name into Open history with memorable performances at previous editions of the Championship.

Lee Westwood hasn’t experienced an Open since 2022, but the former world number one, who was a shot away from a place in a play-off in 2009, may have extra motivation to make his return after finishing T4 at Portrush in 2019.

Branden Grace and Rafa Cabrera Bello both starred at The Open in 2017, the former posting the record for the lowest round at the Championship with a 62 at Royal Birkdale, where Cabrera Bello finished T4.

Marc Warren will hope to be boosted by home support at Dundonald having booked his spot there by getting through Regional Qualifying at Kilmarnock. Warren has played The Open five times, most recently at Royal Liverpool in 2023.

Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, headlines the field at West Lancashire, as he aims to avoid missing The Open for a third straight year. Among those rivalling him at Blundellsands will be Alex Fitzpatrick, with the brother of Matt Fitzpatrick looking to recapture the magic of 2023, when he came through qualifying and then finished T17 at Royal Liverpool, and Alex Maguire.

Maguire came through Regional Qualifying at The Island, and the Irishman can have reason for confidence with previous strong career performances at the St Andrews Links Trophy, Amateur Championship and European Amateur Championship underlining his promise.

Shubhankar Sharma is likely to be a considerable threat at West Lancashire considering his Open pedigree. Sharma made the cut at Portrush in 2019 and has done so in all four of his appearances, including a T8 at Royal Liverpool in 2023 and a T19 last year at Royal Troon.

Tommy Morrison, the 2024 European Amateur Champion, will be eyeing a repeat of last year should he come through qualifying on Merseyside. Morrison made the cut at Troon and claimed a share of 60th on his debut.

Burnham and Berrow features a string of players to have excelled at The Amateur Championship in previous years. Jacob Skov Olesen, who won that title in 2024 and then made the cut at Troon, will tee it up in Somerset, as will the man he beat in the final, Dominic Clemons.

Clemons came through Final Qualifying last year, though he was not able to match the heroics of Morrison and Skov Olesen by reaching the weekend at Troon.

Harry Ellis, the 2017 Amateur Champion, is a step away from making his second Open appearance eight years after his first, having made it through Regional Qualifying at North Hants.

Chris Wood’s amateur days are long gone, but he heads to Burnham and Berrow hoping he can earn the opportunity to reproduce his stunning performances of 2008 and 2009. Wood won the Silver Medal in 2008 with a T5 finish and was T3 in 2009. He has four top-25 finishes in his Open career but may feel has unfinished business with Portrush after narrowly missing out on making it into the weekend in his most recent Open appearance.