Surrey’s James Morrison has qualified for the 144TH Open at St Andrews after finishing second in the Alstom Open de France in Paris.
Three places in the championship were available through the Open Qualifying Series at the event at Le Golf National, for the leading three non-exempt players who finished in the top ten and ties. The other two players to qualify were South Africa’s Jaco Van Zyl and Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
Morrison finished on ten-under-par, three strokes behind the winner Bernd Wiesberger, to secure his place at St Andrews. The 30-year-old from Guildford, who won his second European Tour title at the Open de Espana in May, shot a final round 67 and will make his second appearance in golf’s oldest Championship after finishing tied 23rd at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2012.
Speaking about his late call up for the season’s third Major, Morrison said: “I cannot wait, it’s every boy’s dream. I played at Royal Lytham in 2012, but to play at St Andrews is even better. It’s the home of golf, and I can’t wait to get there now. My goal was to try to have another go at it this week and I have done that. It is not easy to finish top five any week, but to finish second and secure a place is even better. I love it at St Andrews. It is one of the only golf courses where you get that feeling in your body. I have seen all the videos and photos of the stands going up – it is going to be rocking.”