The ISPS HANDA Australian Open, the second tournament of the season on the DP World Tour, came with another great gift under its arm. Beyond the points and money corresponding to the tournament, three tickets for the 2025 Open to be held at Royal Portrush were at stake.
The lucky recipients of those tickets were Ryggs Johnston, the brilliant winner of the tournament, Luck Curtis and Marc Leishman.
In just two weeks, Johnston has secured DP World Tour rights, won his first tournament as a professional, and earned a ticket to the first Major of his career. If he does not secure a ticket to any of the three previous Majors by July, Ryggs will play in Northern Ireland in the first Major of his career. What is clear is that it will be his debut in an Open. There are victories that count double, and this is undoubtedly one of them.
Accompanying him on that journey will be the local player Luck Curtis, who finished second in the tournament and also earned a spot for the last Major of the year, which could also be the first of his career. An unforgettable weekend in which he achieved his best record on the European Tour and his passport to the first Open of his career.
The third to join the plane to the 2025 Open was Marc Leishman. The veteran LIV player finished tied with Jasper Stubbs and earned the ticket by having a better world ranking than the 22-year-old golfer. Stubbs had the chance to be third alone but was unable to make the birdie on the 18th hole at Kingston Heath Golf Club.
As long as he does not qualify for the first Majors of the year, for Leishman, it will be his 45th Major. He will return to a major event after more than two years of absence. Since his move to LIV, he has not managed to access any Major in that period. His third place in Melbourne brings him back to an Open where in 2015 he flirted with victory and finally finished second, his best result in a Major.
It is worth remembering the novelty introduced in 2025 regarding the three tickets distributed in this Australian Open. In the event that any of the three who have secured the spot (Johnston, Curtis, and Leishman) later obtain exemption for another reason, for example, by winning one of the first three Majors, their place will not be taken by the next classified in this tournament. Instead, that spot will be distributed in another way that has not yet been specified.
