Lee Westwood will make his first major championship start in three years when he tees it up at the Open Championship later this month at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
The 52-year-old Englishman was the medalist in his final qualifying group Tuesday at Dundonald Links in Scotland, one of four sites where five spots in the Open field were on the line.
Westwood has never won a major but owns 19 top-10s, including a runner-up finish in 2010 and a T4 placement the last time the Open was played at Royal Portrush in 2019.
Now with LIV Golf, Westwood has not been eligible for any major since he tied for 34th at the Open Championship in 2022.
At the par-72 Dundonald Links on Tuesday, Westwood shot rounds of 70 and 67 to finish 36 holes in 7 under par. He was joined by Scotland’s Daniel Young, Spaniard Angel Hidalgo, Sweden’s Jesper Sandborg and Scottish amateur Connor Graham, who beat countryman Paul O’Hara in a playoff for the fifth and final spot available.
Westwood wasn’t the only LIV golfer to find success on Tuesday. The medalists at Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire also belonged to the breakaway league.
South Africa’s Dean Burmester will play in his fourth Open Championship in five years. His second-round 64 at Royal Cinque Ports propelled him to 10 under par, and he was followed by Englishmen Nathan Kimsey, Curtis Knipes and amateur Sebastian Cave along with fifth-place finisher John Axelsen of Denmark.
At West Lancashire, Australian Lucas Herbert went 69-67 for a score of 8 under par, one stroke better than China’s Sampson Zheng and two above Englishmen George Bloor. A 4-for-2 playoff determined the final two available berths, which went to Finland’s Oliver Lindell and Estonian amateur Richard Teder.
The last final qualifying site was Burnham & Berrow. Justin Walters of South Africa was the medalist at 9 under par, followed by Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen and a trio of Englishmen: Harry Hall, amateur Frazer Jones and OJ Farrell. Another LIV golfer, Anirban Lahiri of India, missed out by just one stroke in placing sixth.
–Field Level Media
