Mullarney denied Open spot by Estonian amateur Teder's outrageous eagle two
Estonian amateur Richard Teder holes out from 80 yards for an eagle two to win his spot in The Open
West Lancashire
Galway’s Ronan Mullarney agonisingly missed out on qualifying for The Open for the second time in four years when Estonian amateur Richard Teder holed out from 80 yards for an eagle two in a Final Qualifying playoff.
A total of 288 golfers competed for 20 places, five at each of the four venues, for the right to tee it up at Royal Portrush in two weeks.
Portrush native Graeme McDowell finished three shots outside the qualifying places after rounds of 70 and 73 at Royal Cinque Ports, but it was an even closer call for Alps Tour player Mullarney(29) at West Lancashire in Liverpool.
He followed a three-under 69 with a 70 to tie for fourth on five under with Teder, England’s Sam Bairstow and Finland’s Oliver Lindell in the battle for the last two spots.
A kid from Estonia with an eagle to get into the Open.
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) July 1, 2025
Movie type shit.
🎥 @JamieMonks8
pic.twitter.com/8VzIPHokK8
Lindell holed a 40-footer for par at the first tie hole (the 10th) to stay alive before making a 10 footer for birdie at the next (18th) to secure his place at Royal Portrush.
Mullarney, Bairstow and Teder headed back to the 10th to play off for the final spot and it went to big-hitting Teder, who blasted a 340 yard drive into the wind before holing a wedge for a two.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Teder, who thought his chance had gone after he double bogeyed his 36th hole.
“It means it means everything. Means the world to me. I just can't wait to get back home and celebrate and just get ready for The Open.”
Kinsale’s John Murphy also came closing, missing out on a playoff by one stroke on two-under at Dundonald Links, where Lee Westwood topped the qualifiers.
Lucas Herbert led the qualifiers and finally sealed a place in The Open after narrowly missing out on opportunities at the Emirates Australian Open, the New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport and the International Series Macau earlier this season.
Despite a dropped shot at the last, his eight-under-par total of 136 was enough for the Australian to clinch first spot ahead of Sampson Zheng, the runner-up in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne, who finished one shot further back on seven-under-par.
George Bloor delighted watching friends and family to clinch the third spot on six-under-par 138 to qualify for Royal Portrush where he will make his debut in The Open.
A crucial birdie on the 16th of the second round ensured that the Englishman moved ahead of the chasing pack and as he parred out the final two holes, the emotions began to sink in as a childhood dream was realised.
The four-man play-off between Teder, Lindell, Mullarney and Bairstow determined the final two places.
Irish
T4 Ronan Mullarney -5 (lost in playoff)
T8 Alex Maguire -4
T17 Thomas Abom (a) -3
T29 Paul McBride -1
NR Conor Purcell
Burnham & Berrow
Justin Walters will make his first appearance in The Open since 2014. The South African, who lost his DP World Tour card in 2023, finished in first place at Burnham & Berrow with a nine-under-par total. Walters, who was visibly emotional afterwards, carded two rounds of 65 and 68 to secure his place in the field at Royal Portrush.
The 2024 Amateur Champion Jacob Skov-Olesen secured a swift return to The Open after finishing tied for second on eight-under-par to book his place in golf’s original championship once again.
Finishing alongside Skov-Olesen, Harry Hall maintained the fine form that has marked him out on the PGA Tour this season, posting a pair of composed 67s to seal his debut Open appearance. The Cornwall native delighted spectators with three consecutive birdies early in his second round to book his place at Royal Portrush.
Amateur Fraser Jones produced a remarkable late surge to claim fourth place at seven-under-par. With his father on the bag, the 19-year-old thrilled the hardy spectators who stayed until dusk, playing the closing holes in five-under-par to make his Open dreams come true.
The final qualifying spot went to OJ Farrell, whose six-under-par total from the early finishers proved enough to secure the Englishman a maiden appearance in a major championship.
Irish
T52 Niall Kearney +6
Dundonald
Former world number one Lee Westwood was the leading qualifier at Dundonald Links to secure his 28th appearance in The Open at Royal Portrush. The 52-year-old Englishman was at two-under-par after his morning round and, starting his second round on the 10th, moved up a gear after the turn with four birdies in six holes from the 2nd (his 11th) to finish on a seven-under-par total of 137.
Playing partners Angel Hidalgo and Daniel Young finished one shot further back to secure their places in the Championship. Hidalgo, who won his first event on the DP World Tour at the Acciona Open De Espana last year, came through Final Qualifying at Dundonald for the second consecutive year while Young bounced back from the disappointment of missing out last year to follow him and make his Open debut at Portrush.
Sweden’s Jesper Sandborg will make his major championship debut at The Open after birdieing the last (the 9th for him) to finish on five-under-par.
Walker Cup player Connor Graham finished on four-under-par and had an agonising wait to learn whether it would be enough to qualify before compatriot Paul O’Hara finished on the same mark. The former R&A Junior Open champion showed his poise to win the first extra-hole by nervelessly rolling in an eight foot birdie putt to secure his Open berth.
Irish
T7 John Murphy -3
T14 Liam Nolan -1
T19 Ruaidhri McGee E
T26 Keith Shannon, Gavin Tiernan (a) +2
T33 Michael McGeady. Caolan Rafferty (a) +4
T54 Rowan Lester +9
Rtd Brendan McCarroll
Royal Cinque Ports
South Africa’s Dean Burmester claimed the first qualifying place at Royal Cinque Ports with a 70 in the morning followed by a course record equalling 64 in the afternoon. With a ten-under-par total of 134, Burmester will compete in The Open for a fourth time.
Englishmen Nathan Kimsey and Curtis Knipes finished in a tie for second on six-under-par. While Kimsey will make his major championship debut this month, Knipes returns to Royal Portrush for a second time after he qualified for The 148th Open in 2019 and was the youngest player in the field.
English amateur Sebastian Cave earned his place in The Open thanks to rounds of 67 and 72 while John Axelsen of Denmark finished a shot further back on four-under-par to claim the final qualifying place.
Notable players who missed out on qualifying included 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell, Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter and Spain’s David Puig, who set the Royal Cinque Ports course record at 64 in the morning round.
Irish
T13 Graeme McDowell -1
