The BMW International Open marked the end of one of the qualification criteria for the Open Championship. Specifically, for the top five in the Race to Dubai who were not already qualified for Royal Portrush. We started the week with five players in that privileged position and another 22 behind with mathematical chances of overtaking. Well, 72 holes later, nothing has changed. The same five have secured qualification.
Specifically, the ones who have achieved it are Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan, Englishman John Parry, Chinese Haotong Li, Australian Daniel Hillier, and South African Shaun Norris. In that order. They are ranked in positions 5, 6, 7, 10, and 12 of the Race to Dubai. It must be said that all of them except Hillier have made a spectacular defence of their position. Reitan finished 4th in Germany, Parry and Norris ended in 26th place, and Haotong was 38th. They have worked hard.
The one who had to suffer a bit more, although in the end, he was not even overtaken by Norris, was Hillier, as he missed the cut. His two major threats this Sunday were Joost Luiten, who only needed to win, and especially Rasmus Neergaard Petersen, who started the day in fourth position in the tournament and needed a tied second to surpass the Australian. Well, in the end, the suffering lasted barely half an hour. Afterwards, he could even turn off the television.
The Dane started his round very poorly, with two bogeys in the first three holes, while Daniel Brown and Jordan Smith had a fabulous start. This explosive cocktail definitively crushed Neergaard Petersen’s chances, who finished the tournament even outside the top 10.
No Spaniard managed to qualify through this criterion. The closest was Eugenio López Chacarra, although failing the cut on Friday left him without mathematical chances. He is the best of ours in the Race to Dubai, in 19th place.
There is still one last way to enter the Open Championship. It is the Scottish Open. The top three finishers in the tournament who are not already in Royal Portrush will qualify to play the fourth Major the following week. The Spaniards who are going to play in Scotland and therefore have chances are five: Eugenio Chacarra, Alex del Rey, Nacho Elvira, Pablo Larrazábal, and Jorge Campillo. Ángel Hidalgo is also playing, although the Malagueño has already secured his qualification through the qualifier.
