David Howard qualifies for The Open - "It hasn't sunk in yet"
David Howard. Picture: INPHO
Cork amateur David Howard was pinching himself after grabbing a place alongside Irish golfing superstars in The Open at Royal Birkdale, but was proud to show others battling Cystic Fibrosis that the sky’s the limit.
The Fota Island star (27) fired rounds of 69 and 71 to finish tied for second at Dundonald Links in Scotland, which was one of four Final Qualifying venues offering five spots each in the field for The 154th Open later this month.
“It’s nice to get it over the line,” said Howard, an Irish amateur international and qualified mechanic who is also an ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland (C.F.I.) having been diagnosed when he was seven.
“I was a bit nervy coming in, but we got there in the end. It definitely hasn't sunk in yet.
“Seeing all the messages coming in from everyone is mad. It makes you realise what a big deal it is. It's class. I am looking forward to it. No words for it really.”
Howard is playing amateur golf full time right now and it paid off last year when he captured the East of Ireland at Baltray and earned an Irish cap.
A native of the townland of Currabinny near Ringaskiddy, he worked for five years as a mechanic at Audi Cork and can’t wait to see how his game compares to the game’s best.
“I’m just looking forward to teeing it up with all the big names and seeing how it's done,” said the Cork man, who finished a shot behind leading qualifier Jack McDonald, tied for second with Royal Birkdale's Matthew Baldwin, a shot inside the qualifying mark on four-under.
“We’ll see how much different I am for them. To tee it up with Rory McIlroy or Padraig Harrington, or any of those boys in practice would be cool and Stuart Grehan is playing as well after winning the Amateur.”
He has been an ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland since 2024 and believes qualifying for The Open, where he joins Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Tom McKibbin and Amateur champion Stuart Grehan, is an opportunity to inspire people.
“My thing is always to show the younger kids coming up that if they can see me do this, anything is possible if you put in the work. It’s good for the whole CF community that someone with CF can play in it in a major championship.”
He knows that Walker Cup selection for Lahinch is a long shot, but a good Open and a victory in the South of Ireland might attract the attention of captain Dean Robertson.
“If I win The Open, I might get a call,” he joked. "We’ll just keep playing and see where it leaves us.”
His father John, who introduced him to the game, was on his bag at Dundonald Links and he now turns his attention to the Interprovincial matches at Knightsbrook next Tuesday and Wednesday.
“He's happy out now,” he said of his father.
Of the other six Irish in action at Final Qualifying, only Alex Maguire came as close as Howard, missing out on a play-off spot by just two shots at West Lancs.
Qualifiers and how the Irish fared
Burnham & Berrow (-8 qualified)
RTD KENNEDY, Max
Qualifiers
James Nicholas -10
Caleb Surratt -9
Tom Sloman -8
Alejandro De Castro Piera (a) -8
Austin Truslow -8
American James Nicholas overcame all the seasons at Burnham & Berrow to secure his debut appearance at The Open, finishing top of the leaderboard on a ten-under-par.
Nicholas backed up a bogey-free opening round of 65 with a superb 67 in the ever-changing afternoon conditions to finish one shot clear of fellow American Caleb Surratt, who will also make his Open debut at Royal Birkdale after rounds of 67 and 66.
Fresh from his major debut at the US Open, 22-year-old Surratt’s excellent second round ensured he finished second on his own ahead of three more debutants on eight-under-par, who all had a nervy wait to see if one of the late finishers could force a play-off.
Home favourite Tom Sloman, playing alongside Surratt, made the most of his course knowledge as the weather started to turn after lunch to post the best second round total, with three birdies in the last six holes for a 65 to finish on eight-under-par.
Spanish amateur Alejandro De Castro Piera will also make his major debut at The Open after following up an opening, bogey-free 65 with a 69 to join Sloman on eight-under-par, with Austen Truslow completing the qualifiers after rounds of 66 and 68.
The 30-year-old American, who got engaged last week, admitted he considered giving up golf last year, but he is now set for his first appearance in The Open and said it will be a “dream come true” to tee it up at Royal Birkdale.
James Nicholas
“Today was just a battle. Got off to a really good start, six-under through eight or so, then the wind flipped 180 and it was straight at us the whole front nine. It was a battle, for sure.
“We had four seasons in one hole. At 3, we had cold, then hot, then wind, rain and almost hail.
“I played the US Open a week and a half ago and I am excited to see how The Open compares.
“I still miss my hockey days, ice hockey was my main sport growing up. My brother is still playing, he is in college, and I know they are all back home rooting for me. I am excited to celebrate with them on FaceTime.
“I have played an Irish Open, I have played a Dunhill at St Andrews, Carnoustie, this is what I’m used to. I played The Amateur Championship at Royal Aberdeen back in the day. I love links golf, it is the purest test of golf, it is almost like a religious experience – on this course, there is even a church at 12!
“The Open is the ultimate test of golf. I have never experienced it, never watched it live on-site. To be able to go there and test my game against the best in the world is really exciting.
“I didn’t watch much golf, I was a hockey guy, but I remember watching Tiger at the Old Course and Carnoustie. I have a two-week vacation now with my two best friends and my wife but I might have to practice now!”
Austen Truslow
“We had about six different seasons out here today. We had wind, we had rain, we had sun, we had all sorts of wind directions, just true links golf.
“It’s been one hell of a ride, honestly the last year I’ve questioned whether I want to continue doing it. Not even because my game isn’t getting better but I want to get married and have kids and a stable life and this career is a tough one to do, even if you’re on the PGA Tour or LIV making a lot of money, it’s still not the easiest.
“But I love it, and my fiancée loves that I play, so I’ve kept going and I have a great team around me, and good sponsors. I have a lot of people to thank for my ability to keep going. My fiancée knows my score before I do, she follows everything. We’re going to Lisbon tomorrow.
“We got engaged last week and our goal was to have an international trip this year. I knew I was playing this qualifier, so I figured we’d do something in Europe and we’re going to go. Qualifying for The Open it might change our schedule a bit, she’s going to be like ‘the one week I get a vacation and you’ve got to practice’.”
Alejandro (Alex) De Castro Piera
“It was my first time playing this course, the practice round was my first time, but it was great. The course was in great condition, it was a grind the last nine.
“The conditions were relatively score-able, especially the first 18, and the first nine of the second round but the back nine was where it got links-y.
“I can’t even tell you how much The Open means to me. Right now it’s the highest point of my career.”
Tom Sloman
“I will take that – it is one of the better days I’ve had. I didn’t feel pressure (of having a large local support) at all, I quite enjoyed it. There must have been 50-100 people following me round and it was very nice of them to come out.
“I didn’t look at the leaderboard once. I thought I needed one or two more coming down the stretch and definitely thought I needed to birdie the last, so I was quite annoyed. But I looked at the leaderboard afterwards and it was a pleasant surprise.
“It was mental – 25 degrees at one point then about 10 the next. I got a bit lucky with the draw, to be fair. It was downwind on my back nine, then I turned on 10 and it was downwind from there. I’m looking forward to it. I am sure there will be some first-tee nerves, but it will be fantastic.
“It is the biggest championship in the world and everyone wants to play in it. It probably won’t sink in until I get there but I have a couple of weeks now to prepare for it.”
Caleb Surratt
“I’m pumped. I played my first major a few weeks back at the US Open and to qualify for that and be there on the weekend gave me the taste, wanting to be back so bad, so I had that in my mouth coming into this event and battled hard all day.
“I feel like I have a good gameplan, know what needs improving, and when I’m in control and healthy I can compete with anyone. I learned a lot playing here last year but I’ve always enjoyed links golf and glad I came back here. The Open means a lot, it’s going to be my second major and it’s always a tournament I’ve always enjoyed waking up at 4am and watching, to have my name on the leaderboard will be special.”
Dundonald Links (-3 qualified)
T2 HOWARD, David (a) 69 71 (4) Qualified
T45 BOLES, Jordan (a) +11 78 77
T49 GERAGHTY, Cian +12 81 75
WD MCGEE, Ruaidhri
Qualifiers
Jack McDonald -5
Matthew Baldwin -4
David Howard (a) -4
Nevill Ruiter (a) -3
Marcus Plunkett -3
Lightning struck twice for Jack McDonald when he led the qualifiers at Dundonald with a five-under-par total of 139 today to repeat his achievement at the Ayrshire links two years ago.
The 33-year-old will make his second appearance in The Open at Royal Birkdale having come through Final Qualifying in 2024 to secure a place at his home Open venue of Royal Troon.
It will also be a homecoming for Matthew Baldwin, who tied for four-under with Irish amateur David Howard, to earn his spot at Birkdale, only a few miles from his home. The 40-year-old will make his fourth appearance in The Open and complete the north west set having played at Royal Liverpool and Royal Lytham & St Annes previously.
Howard, the East of Ireland Amateur champion, will follow his friend and fellow Irish amateur Stuart Grehan, who won The Amateur Championship last week, into the field at The Open.
The final two places were taken by Dutch amateur Nevill Ruiter and American professional Marcus Plunkett, who will both be making their major championship debuts at Birkdale.
Jack McDonald
“I am just excited to go and play it again. It’s the best week ever. It will be great down there. When I did play at Troon it was just one of those weeks where I just wanted to play it again. I did miss the cut by a shot but it was such a good event that I just wanted to go back.”
Matthew Baldwin
“For me it’s a bit of a dream really. I get emotional just thinking about it. It will be incredible. Fortunately I have done it a couple of times before in the north west at Hoylake and at Lytham so it will be a dream come true to do it in front of my family, my wife, my mum. It will be amazing.”
Marcus Plunkett
“To play in the most historic event, I couldn’t have dreamed it up better it’s going to be awesome. All those stingers I hit on the driving range as a kid really paid off!”
David Howard
“It hasn’t sunk in yet but it’s pretty special and I’m looking forward to it. I only started playing Irish championships as an amateur three years go so it can’t get much better than this. It’s mad. I actually can’t even imagine it. I can’t wait to be there and see how it goes.”
West Lancashire (1 player on -8 qualified after play-off)
T13 MAGUIRE, Alex Laytown & Bettystown -6 68 70
T36 ABOM, Liam (a) Edmondstown +1 73 72
Qualifiers
Sam Bairstow -10
Kazuma Kobori -9
Jose Luis Ballester Barrio -9
Tiger Christensen -9
Matthew Jordan* -8
*Matthew Jordan qualified at the second hole of play-off with a birdie three.
Sam Bairstow led the qualifiers at West Lancashire after rounds of 66 and 68 gave the Englishman a 10-under-par total of 134. He last qualified for The Open at St Andrews in 2022 and returns to golf’s original Championship after a dominant display at West Lancs.
He was joined by Kazuma Kobori of New Zealand, Germany’s Tiger Christensen and Spaniard Jose Luis Ballester Barrio after the trio finished tied for second place on nine-under-par 135.
Kobori followed an opening round 70 with a sparkling second round 65 which included eight birdies, while Christensen fired two eagles and four birdies in a first round 65 before settling for a steady round of 70 this afternoon.
Ballester sealed his place in The Open with a birdie at the last to also sign for a second round 65 which included seven birdies and an eagle to add to this morning’s round of 70.
A play-off between Matthew Jordan, Joe Dean and amateur Sam Easterbrook, who all finished tied fourth on eight-under-par 136, determined the final place.
Local favourite Jordan delighted the home crowd on the second play-off hole, sticking his approach to two feet and clinching his spot in The Open with a birdie three after Dean and Easterbrook only managed par.
Sam Bairstow
“I didn’t have my best game this morning but I managed to get it from tee to green and get a decent score out of it so that gave me a boost going into this afternoon. It was great to get through.
“I’ve played here a lot so I knew what was coming. Leading coming into the back nine gave me confidence. I’ve tended to look at leaderboards in the past and what everyone else is doing but I just focussed on getting as good as score as I can and it seemed to work.
“Getting back to The Open means a lot, I’ve missed it the last few years since St Andrews. Birkdale is close to home and sure it’s going to be great.”
Kazuma Kobori
“It feels incredible to have qualified for The Open. I played really good golf out there and I felt like I deserved it.
“The second round, I felt more familiar with the golf course. I was able to read the greens better and see how the bunkers played. I got used to the links conditions and played the tougher holes better. There were good stand-out shots.
“I played Troon two years ago and I really loved the experience there. All my friends on the DP World Tour have already qualified and they were just waiting for me so it’s great to have made it happen.”
Tiger Christensen
“Great to have qualified. I came here trying to qualify having already done it at West Lancs before, I just tried to get off to a good start and it went from there. I really like West Lancs and the conditions today were good. It was firm so you needed to be smart in how you played and have good distance control. The set-up was great.
“It will be the highlight of the season to play in The Open, honestly I don’t know what else to say. I was a little overwhelmed when I played in The Open the last time [at Royal Liverpool]. I’m going to dial down the practice rounds this time around and save some energy. Now that it’s been three years and I’ve turned pro, I feel I can hopefully compete against the guys at Birkdale.”
Jose Luis Ballester Barrio
“I’m feeling lots of emotions, it’s been a rough month and a half of golf and it’s funny, having complained a little too much about some unlucky breaks that I’ve been getting, on the last tee shot I hit it left on the final hole but managed to stay in play by a foot and hit a really good shot from there and put it in to get to The Open. I missed out in qualifying for The Open in Singapore and Australia so I’m really happy to get in on the third time of trying.
“This my fourth time trying to qualify for The Open and this the first time I’ve made it through so at the end of the day, my thought process is always the same – I try to give myself an opportunity on the last nine holes. I wish I didn’t have to work as hard at the end, I made a few nice birdies to give myself the opportunity, and I’m glad I managed to close it out.
“It feels really special to be coming back to The Open.”
Matthew Jordan
“I’m knackered but really pleased to have qualified for The Open. Days like this are really long and to not come away with qualifying after a play-off would have been gutting so getting it done makes it all worthwhile.
“The support out here today was amazing. I actually woke up feeling terrible, I don’t know if it was a bit of food poisoning, so I was so tired after the first 18 holes. I could feel my body giving up on me as I was so tired but seeing all these people, it give me a real boost and it kept with me. Really looking forward to being at Royal Birkdale.”
Royal Cinque Ports (-8 qualified)
No Irish
Qualifiers
Baard Bjoernevik Skogen -12
MJ Daffue -12
Matthew Southgate -10
Peter Uihlein -9
Antoine Rozner -8
South African MJ Daffue claimed top honours alongside Baard Bjoernevik Skogen at Royal Cinque Ports to book his place at The 154th Open. With rounds of 67, 65 for a total of 12-under-par 132, he will make his debut at Royal Birkdale. His day was highlighted by back-to-back eagles on the par-4 6th and 7th holes at Royal Cinque Ports this morning.
Skogen, who is ranked 771st on the Official World Golf Ranking, will also make his first appearance at The Open. The Norwegian made just one bogey in 36 holes as he recorded rounds of 68, 64 to hold a share of the lead at the end of the day.
England’s Matthew Southgate has come through Final Qualifying for a remarkable sixth time with four of those occasions occurring on the Deal layout. He recorded rounds of 68 and 66 for a total of 10-under-par 134. Southgate’s best performance in The Open came at Royal Birkdale in 2017 when he finished tied sixth.
Peter Uihlein of the United States of America played at Royal Cinque Ports for a second consecutive year. Having led after the first round, he qualified for Royal Birkdale with rounds of 66 and 69 to be one shot behind Southgate.
Frenchman Antoine Rozner closed his round with three consecutive birdies to ensure his place at Royal Birkdale. This is the second time he has qualified at Royal Cinque Ports after he was also successful in 2023. Rozner qualified with rounds of 69 and 67 for a total of eight-under-par 136.
MJ Daffue
“I am so excited. I don’t know Royal Birkdale at all but I love links golf and I have been playing good golf this year so this is where I want to be.
“It was a good performance today and I am really proud of it. I played smart but I also executed amazing shots coming down the stretch and that is testament to my practice and preparation, but also I live in Texas so I am used to the wind.”
Baard Bjoernevik Skogen
“It feels great. I haven’t had many opportunities to qualify for the majors. I’ve never played well on links courses at amateur championships so I was caught by surprise at how well I played today.
“I went to The Open in 2008 when it was at Birkdale so that was pretty special. I went to The Open in 2010 when it was at St Andrews and I was a kid. I watch The Open almost every year and I am a huge Justin Rose fan so two years ago at Royal Troon I was watching really closely.”
Matthew Southgate
“It’s been a really good day. It’s obviously a course I love playing. I’ve always been a good links player and very passionate about playing in The Open.
“It seems to bring the best out in me, so it’s very, very rewarding to get up at 04:30 this morning and get a spot into Royal Birkdale again.
“It’s lovely to be part of The Open whatever position you’re in. I have great memories of playing at Royal Birkdale. It’s extremely special to be going back.”
Peter Uihlein
“I played here last year and really enjoyed the course. It’s nice to come back and play somewhere that you like. The golf course is fantastic. You can’t fake it round here.
“I got through qualifying for [the US Open at] Shinnecock Hills so it’s nice to do it again and reach another major.
“I was playing with ‘Gracey’ [Branden Grace] the other day and we were talking about Birkdale. It’s a strong golf course. You have to drive it well, so we’ll see.”
Antoine Rozner
“It feels awesome, it was such a long, tough day. I was outside of the cut line for a long time but managed to have an amazing finish. I am really excited to go to Royal Birkdale, it will be a great week.
“I think I express myself better on links courses. I get very creative and I think that Royal Cinque Ports is a good example of that. You need to be strict with your target at times and hole putts when you have chances. I am really happy, I played super well.
“I made three birdies to finish my round and make it on the number. You have to stay patient, don’t get too hard on yourself, and your chances will come.”
