Irish players fail to qualify for the Open Championship
Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal were not luck enough to qualify for the Open Championship at Sunningdale. Both the Ryder Cup captain and his predecessor fell short in claiming any of the 10 spots of the qualifiers.
On the final hole, Montgomerie needed to hole a bunker shot. However, he failed to do so, as his shot was six feet away from the pin.
He took two extra shorts, which cost him the game. As a result, the Irishman was only able to end it on a level par. Thus, he will not be playing in the Open Championship.
Jose M. Olazabal had a great start. Olazabal, at one point, was right on target and almost had it, he could have easily qualified.
However, near to the end, his game started to fade. He played a few bad shots. In the end, he missed out by three shots and finished even lower than Colin Montgomerie.
About his game, Olazabal had to say, "I made a great start but I then had too many putts and when I hit a bad shot on the 16th that was it".
"Its consistency - you have to do it for 18 holes four days in a row," he added.
The two Irishmen failed to qualify for the Open Championship at Sunningdale, but to everyone’s surprise England’s Sam Walker was able to qualify.
Sam Walker has qualified for the first time. This was his 10th attempt and he will finally make his debut. His first attempt was 14 years ago. At the time, he was only 20 years old.
Since then, he has been working hard and has been consistent about his game. Walker finished at the second position. The first place was secured by James Morrison.
James Morrison ended at eight-under. Meanwhile, Sam Walker was just two strokes behind the leader and ended at six-under.
In an interview, Walker said, “It feels amazing, it’s going to be fantastic to play. It'll be one of the best things in my life”.
Two other players who qualified for the Open Championship are Welshman Jamie Donaldson and Mathew Baldwin.
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