Ancer, Horsfield earn Open Championship spots via final qualifying
Abraham Ancer and Sam Horsfield advanced through final qualifying Tuesday for The Open Championship and will now join 14 other full-time LIV Golf players set to compete in the year’s final major.
Four qualifying sites in the UK hosted a total of 288 players vying for 16 available spots, with 11 LIV Golf players in action during the gruelling 36-hole day.
The Open at Royal Troon will be held July 18-21, sandwiched between next week’s LIV Golf Andalucía at Real Club Valderrama, and LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf and Country Club on July 26-28.
At West Lancashire, Horsfield shot consecutive 3-under 69s to tie for medalist honors with English amateur Matthew Dodd-Berry at 6 under.
Tuesday’s successful qualifying continues Horsfield’s recent upsurge in performance. At last month’s LIV Golf Nashville, the Majesticks GC member finished solo second for his best result in any LIV Golf tournament.
"I am looking forward to it," Horsfield told the Mirror. "I've turned my game around in the last few weeks, made a few changes. I feel like my brain is [in] the right place with everything, and then obviously that leads to good golf. It is going to be a great few weeks, the major in the middle of it. It is going to be epic."
The 27-year-old Englishman will be making his third Open appearance; he tied for 67th in 2021 and missed the cut the following year.
Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia and Torque GC’s Carlos Ortiz each finished at 3 under to miss a playoff by two shots. Garcia, who has twice finished runner-up in his 25 Open starts, was seeking to make his 100th career start in a major.
“It would be nice to make The Open my 100th major, but it was tough conditions and sometimes things don’t go your way,” Garcia said. “I tried all I could and that’s all I can ask myself for.”
At Burnham & Berrow, Ancer of Fireballs GC shot rounds of 65 and 72 to finish at 5 under, putting him in a three-for-two playoff that also included fellow LIV Golf player Anirban Lahiri of Crushers GC.
Ancer advanced with a par on the first playoff hole while Lahiri was eliminated with a bogey.
Ancer’s chances to qualify looked dim in regulation after a triple bogey on the back nine of his last round, but he immediately followed with a birdie.
“It feels amazing. I'm extremely happy," Ancer said. “I managed to make it really tough on myself ... but I bounced back and I played a good hole here in the playoff to get through."
The 33-year-old Ancer, who won LIV Golf Hong Kong earlier this season, will be making his sixth Open start. His best result is a tie for 11th in 2022.
At Royal Cinque Ports, Stinger GC’s Branden Grace was part of a three-man playoff for the final spot after shooting consecutive rounds of 1-under 71, but was eliminated on the second playoff hole. Smash GC’s Graeme McDowell and Fireballs’ Eugenio Chacarra each finished at 1 over.
At Dundonald Links in Scotland, RangeGoats GC’s Peter Uihlein finished tied for 18th at 3 over.
Besides Ancer and Horsfield, the other full-time LIV Golf players set for The Open include: Dean Burmester (Stinger), Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers captain), Tyrrell Hatton (Legion XIII), Dustin Johnson (4Aces GC captain), Brooks Koepka (Smash GC captain), Adrian Meronk (Cleeks GC), Phil Mickelson (HyFlyers GC captain), Joaquin Niemann (Torque GC captain), Andy Ogletree (HyFlyers), Louis Oosthuizen (Stinger captain), David Puig (Fireballs), Jon Rahm (Legion XIII captain), Cameron Smith (Ripper GC captain) and Henrik Stenson (Majesticks GC co-captain).
Mickelson, Oosthuizen, Smith and Stenson are past Open winners.
In addition, reserve player John Catlin, who has played in the last two LIV Golf tournaments for injured Crushers player Charles Howell III, is also in the Open field. Catlin, the Asian Tour points leader, tied for seventh in Nashville.