The official list of players who will play the Final Qualifying for the Open has been published, along with the venue for each player. Seven Spaniards will participate in the event on the upcoming 1st of July. The Final Qualifying will be contested over 36 holes at the courses of Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports, and West Lancashire.
Looking at the lineup of players at first glance, what stands out is precisely an absence, a golfer who will not compete. Sergio García is not registered and therefore will not play the Final Qualifying. It’s true that he still has a very favourable card up his sleeve. The R&A awards a spot to the LIV player who is among the top five on the circuit this year and is not exempt for another reason. Sergio currently holds that spot. He is fourth in the annual ranking, but both Niemann, DeChambeau, and Rahm are already qualified for the event at Royal Portrush.
He needs to retain that position this week, as the exemption is granted to the one in that position on the 30th of June. The LIV in Dallas is the last chance; if he achieves a good result or no one surpasses him in the ranking, he will play the Open, but if not, he will miss out on what would be his 23rd British. He hasn’t appeared in the last Major of the year since 2022.
David Puig, on the other hand, will play the qualifying. It’s true that with a win in Dallas, he would take that spot from Sergio for Royal Portrush, but he has wanted to keep the option of playing the qualifying open. Two different ways to approach it. He will play at Royal Cinque Ports alongside two others of ours, his former teammate in the Fireballs, Luis Masaveu, and the young amateur Raúl Gómez, who qualified with epic style in this week’s regional phase. Both Puig and Masaveu already know what it’s like to play the Open; for Raúl, it would be his debut in a Major.
Rafa Cabrera Bello, for his part, will play at Dundonald Links alongside Ángel Hidalgo. The two champions of the Open de España in 2021 and 2024 meet in Scotland. The Marbella native returns to the course where he already secured a spot for last year’s British with a spectacular eagle from over a hundred metres.
Ángel Ayora and Eugenio López Chacarra are the other three members of the Armada seeking a breakthrough. For the Andalusian, it would be his first Major, and he will attempt it at the West Lancashire venue. Eugenio will seek a place in the third Major of his career at Burnham & Berrow.
Barring any last-minute withdrawals, a total of 288 players will participate, 72 at each venue. It is expected that The R&A will award between four and five spots per venue. In the event of a tie for the last qualifying spot in any of the events, it will be resolved through a sudden-death playoff. Some reserve spots will also be allocated in these trials.
