UAE's Grenville-Wood falls short, Justin Rose qualifies for The Open

The UAE’s No.1 professional golfer, Joshua Grenville-Wood, put up a fight at Open Championship Final Qualifying but fell just short of securing his spot at Royal Troon later this month.

The 26-year-old started the 36-hole qualifier at Burnham & Berrow strongly, carding a two under par 69 in the first round to put himself in the mix of securing one of four exemptions available into the 152nd edition of the Major Championship.

Unfortunately for Grenville-Wood, a second round 72 left him in a share of 14th on one under par, four shots shy of a play-off to secure entry into the season’s final Major.

Former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and Amateur Championship runner-up Dominic Clemons finished top of the pile on eight under to secure the first two qualifying spots.

The final two qualifying places were secured by Abraham Ancer and Charlie Lindh after they prevailed in a three-way play-off with Dubai-based Aniban Lahiri. The trio had finished level on five-under-par and Lahiri missed out after bogeying the first play-off hole.

“The Open’s been a bit of a fairytale and love story for me since I was 14 and I qualified at Scotscraig,” said Rose.

“Obviously there was winning the Silver Medal at Royal Birkdale a couple of years later, so The Open has always been super special.

“Sometimes you take it for granted – you’re exempt, you turn up and play for many years, but as you get older, things get a little harder so in some ways it’s good to have to qualify because it makes you appreciate The Open a little more and how special it is.

“Coming back to Burnham & Berrow was also special – first time back here since ’97. I was grateful to be back here and walk down memory lane.”

At the Dundonald qualifier, England’s Sam Hutsby led the way after posting an eight under par total to secure his place in The Open for the first time.

Angel Hidalgo and Irish Walker Cup player Liam Nolan were tied on five-under-par and also qualified for debut appearances at Royal Troon.

The final place was resolved after a three-player play-off between local favourite Jack McDonald, Daniel Young and Tim Widing. McDonald, from nearby Kilmarnock, holed a 25 ft birdie putt to win.

At Royal Cinque Ports, Matthew Southgate, Elvis Smylie, Jaime Montojo Fernandez (a) and Luis Masaveu (a) secured their spots, with Dubai-based Thomas Detry and seven-time Asian Tour winner Jazz Janewattananond missing out.

The West Lancashire qualifier saw Matthew Dodd-Berry (a), Sam Horsfield, Daniel Brown and Misahiro Kawamura advance to Royal Troon.

Two-time Open runner-up Sergio Garcia missed out on qualifying at the Lancashire links for the second year-in-a-row after falling short and finishing on the three-under mark alongside Carlos Ortiz and Mexican amateur Omar Morales.