Storm and Echenique qualify for Open Championship

Graeme Storm and Raphael Echenique win International Final Qualifying at Sunningdale to earn a spot in the Open Championship field at Turnberry

Turnberry

Graeme Storm and Raphael Echenique led a high quality 96-man field at Sunningdale with an impressive ten under-par score to clinch places in the field for The Open at Turnberry. In total ten of the European Tour’s finest qualified through International

Final Qualification around the New and Old courses of the Sunningdale

Golf Club.

A course record 62 left Storm in a strong position after round one. An eagle on his first hole gave the 31 year old from Hartlepool a relatively stress-free passage through the second round. Echenique also qualified with ease after 36 bogey-free holes.

Other qualifiers include European Tour veteran Gary Orr, who has not competed in the Championship since 2001 and fellow Scot David Drysdale, who will compete in the first major of his professional career. Branden Grace, Rafael Jacquelin, Paul Broadhurst and Rhys Davies were all amongst the qualifiers.

This left two remaining qualifying spots but with six players tied on 133, a sudden death play-off would be required. In the end, Richie Ramsay and Oliver Fisher held their nerve to earn a place in the biggest tournament of the year.

 

Internation Final Qualifying Leaderboard

T1    Rafa Echenique    -10 T1    Graeme Strom   -10

T3    David Drysdale  -9 T3    Gary Orr   -9 T3    Branden Grace  -9

T6    Raphael Jacquelin     -8 T6    Paul Broadhurst    -8 T6    Rhys Davies     -8

T9    Richie Ramsay    -7 T9    Oliver Fisher    -7

(Missed out in sudden death play-off) T9    Mark Foster  -7 T9    Danny Willett   -7 T9    Peter Lawrie    -7 T9    Taco Remkes   -7

Neil Tappin
Editor

In July 2023, Neil became just the 9th editor in Golf Monthly's 112-year history. Originally working with the best coaches in the UK to produce instruction content, he has also presented many Golf Monthly videos looking at all areas of the game from Tour player interviews to the rules of golf. 

Throughout his time with the brand he has also covered equipment launches that date back well over a decade. He clearly remembers the launch of the Callaway and Nike square drivers as well as the white TaylorMade driver families, such as the RocketBallz! If you take a look at the Golf Monthly YouTube channel, you'll see his equipment videos dating back over a decade! He has also conducted 'What's In The Bag' interviews with many of the game's best players like Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm. Over the years, Neil has tested a vast array of products in each category and at drastically different price-points. 

Neil is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus Fairway Wood: Titleist TSR2 Hybrid: Titleist TS3 Irons: PING Blueprint S (4&5), PING Blueprint T (6-PW) Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 50˚, 54˚, 60˚ Putter: Odyssey Triple Track Ten Ball: Titleist Pro V1X