Open Championship: Recent Winner John Gough On Golf's Highs & Lows

John Gough posted on Instagram about narrowly missing out on the Open Championship — (Image credit: Getty Images / Instagram: johngough98)

The golfing gods giveth and the golfing gods taketh away. It's a sentiment pretty much everyone who's ever picked up a club can identify with, and one John Gough has just experienced in the extreme.

Gough arrived at Royal Cinque Ports for Open Championship Final Qualifying on a huge high after capturing his maiden HotelPlanner Tour title just a couple of days earlier.

And it looked good for the 27-year-old Englishman as he completed 36 holes at the Kent venue in seven under to sit in one of the five qualifying places for the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

However, Antoine Rozner produced a flying finish, making two birdies in his final three holes to charge up the leaderboard and pinch the final spot from Gough's grasp.

And that saw Gough finish just one place and one shot outside of the top five to agonizingly miss out on a spot in the field for Birkdale.

Gough, though, despite being devastated by such a late blow, managed to see the philosophical side of things as he posted about it on social media.

"Today shows the highs and lows of golf," Gough wrote on his Instagram story.

"Not even 48 hours of happiness before it kicks you in the (nut emoji) again."

John Gough just missed out on a spot at Royal Birkdale in Final Qualifying

It's certainly a sentiment many will empathize with, as Gough looked to have been riding the crest of a wave before golf found a way to bring him crashing back down to Earth.

And not just by not qualifying for The Open either, but by the cruel manner and late heartbreak he suffered when he thought he'd done enough to get a place in the field to battle for the Claret Jug.

Gough wasn't the only player to be left disappointed though on a dramatic day of Final Qualifying, with some big names missing out on a place in The Open.

Sergio Garcia was the headline name on that list, as he missed out at West Lancashire thanks to some lunchtime lasagne making him feel unwell during his second round.

“I had a little bit of food there in the players’ lounge and it did not sit well with me. I only ate the lasagne," said Garcia after his bid to return to The Open was ended.

"In the afternoon, I felt like I was going to vomit pretty much on every hole. I thought about stopping after nine. But I thought, 'well, let’s play a couple more and see if I get something going,' but unfortunately it didn’t happen.”

Matt Wallace was another to miss out, along with popular YouTubers the Bryan brothers, with George finishing outside the top 20 but Wesley going very close and just missing a playoff by one shot.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.