Somerset hosts final Open qualifiers
It's the first time an event like this has been held
For the first time in the South West, Somerset has held a set of qualifiers for the Open - happening this year at Troon.
There were four spots up for grabs - and former major winner Justin Rose qualified for the Open at Troon but his ex-Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia frustratingly came up short for the second successive year.
Bosses at Burnham Berrow on social media called it a 'glorious' day for golf, with cloudy, but dry and mild, weather at the site in Burnham-on-Sea.
Back to the qualifiers, and Justin Rose is through, having played in every Open since 2007 when fit.
Rose was absent in 2022 because of a back injury - and extended that run after taking one of four places in final qualifying at Burnham Burrow in Somerset.
The 43-year-old, who has missed the cut at four of his last five majors, was eight under par for 36 holes and finished level with fellow Englishman Dominic Clemons, who just over a week ago was denied a spot at Troon when he was beaten in the final of the Amateur Championship.
Rose said: "The Open's been a bit of a fairytale and love story for me since I was 14 and I qualified at Scotscraig.
"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 how special it is."
However, further north at West Lancashire near Liverpool Garcia finished two strokes adrift of the top four, just as he had done 12 months ago.
The Spaniard's low world ranking after joining LIV Golf means the only major he currently qualifies for on merit is the Masters as a former champion.
But he remains a big name, evidenced by the hundreds of people who followed him, but that created its own problems as there were significant delays on every hole because of the huge gallery.
It resulted in his group being given a warning after eight holes as they had fallen four minutes behind play but Garcia said that was unfair due to the circumstances - he felt that had contributed to a couple of dropped shots which would ultimately prove crucial.
"The marshalls were doing as good a job as they could do but we had to stop pretty much on every tee for two or three minutes because people were walking on the fairways," he said.
"I don't think they took that into account and that was unfortunate as it made us rush and on a day like today, where the conditions are so tricky, you might need a little bit of extra time and because of that I made a couple of bogeys which might have cost me getting to Troon."
Garcia was looking to qualify for his 100th major, which will now fittingly be marked at Augusta next year, and he was disappointed to come up short again.
"It would've been a dream a come true to make the Open my 100th major because I love the Open and playing in the UK," he said after finishing three under.
"Since I joined LIV I think it was a great thing for me as I realised I was so fortunate to play so many majors for so many years in a row without really missing any.
"You cannot lose perspective of how difficult it is to get into the majors and how much they mean."
The old Garcia brilliance was still there in flashes, evidenced by his miraculous birdie at the fourth, his 13th hole of his second round, where from 30 yards wide of the fairway in deep rough he hit his approach to 10 feet to get to two under, and then saw his chip lip out two holes later.
He was surpassed by Royal Liverpool amateur Matthew Dodd-Berry, who finished joint top at West Lancashire on six under with Sam Horsfield, whose fellow DP World Tour professionals Dan Brown and Masahiro Kawamura also qualified.
Another Englishman, Matthew Southgate, took top spot at Royal Cinque Ports on six under, ahead of Australia'sElvis Smylie and Spanish amateur Jaime Montojo.
At Dundonald Links, just five miles from Troon, England's Sam Hutsby came out top on eight under, with Spaniard Angel Hidalgo and Irish amateur Liam Nolan joint second on five under and Scot Jack McDonald coming through a play-off.