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| Tyro banks: Harris English has booked his place at Lytham after a stunning couple of rounds in Texas |
American rookie professional Harris English will never forget how he qualified
for his first Open Championship.
Eight months after playing in the Walker Cup in Aberdeen the 22-year-old from
Georgia booked his place at Royal Lytham in July with rounds of 60 and 63 in
the international qualifier in Texas.
He beat England's Greg Owen by four as eight spots were secured.
That included included six successive birdies in a front nine 29 and English
later told the Open website: ''I kind of lost track of how many I made.
''I was relaxed. I had some fun. I was striking the ball really well. In fact,
I was doing everything really well.
''I knew the wind wasn't going to be blowing, so I knew the scores were going
to be low. I couldn't let up.
''I decided to keep the pedal to the metal on the last 18 holes, where I left
myself in really good position to make putts.
''It's awesome. I told my parents and my agent that I really, really wanted to play in the British Open, so I came here today with that goal - and here I go.''
Owen, who had an albatross and led for a while the last time The Open was at Lytham in 2001, added an afternoon 61 to his opening 66 to finish 13 under par.
''It was just a good round where everything just kept going the right way,'' the US-based Mansfield golfer said. ''I haven't had a round like that in years.''
Joint third on 10 under were Canadian Stephen Ames, Argentina's Andres Romero, who led with two holes to play at Carnoustie in 2007, and American Justin Hicks.
A play-off for the last three spots was determined by a play-off involving Americans James Driscoll and Bob Estes, Sweden's Daniel Chopra and Scot Russell Knox.
Estes birdied the first, while a pair of pars at the short 17th was good enough for Driscoll and Chopra.
Among those to miss out was Swede Henrik Stenson, twice third in the last four years, and Londoner Brian Davis.
''It's awesome. I told my parents and my agent that I really, really wanted to play in the British Open, so I came here today with that goal - and here I go.''
Owen, who had an albatross and led for a while the last time The Open was at Lytham in 2001, added an afternoon 61 to his opening 66 to finish 13 under par.
''It was just a good round where everything just kept going the right way,'' the US-based Mansfield golfer said. ''I haven't had a round like that in years.''
Joint third on 10 under were Canadian Stephen Ames, Argentina's Andres Romero, who led with two holes to play at Carnoustie in 2007, and American Justin Hicks.
A play-off for the last three spots was determined by a play-off involving Americans James Driscoll and Bob Estes, Sweden's Daniel Chopra and Scot Russell Knox.
Estes birdied the first, while a pair of pars at the short 17th was good enough for Driscoll and Chopra.
Among those to miss out was Swede Henrik Stenson, twice third in the last four years, and Londoner Brian Davis.
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