GRAEME MCDOWELL suffered major heartache this afternoon as he missed out on qualification for the Open Championship.
The Portrush native will miss the season’s final major at his hometown course after he failed to finish in one of the top 5 places at Royal Cinque Port.
2010 US Open winner McDowell carded a first round of two under par before a +1 round in the afternoon on the southwest coast of England.
While The 2025 Open takes place on the Dunluce Links, McDowell’s has a hole named after him on the Valley course at Royal Portrush Golf Club.
The honour was given to him by the club in recognition of his achievements in golf, particularly his victory at the 2010 US Open.
20 places were up for grabs at four different venues on Tuesday, the event was the last for players who are not already exempt from the qualification process for the world’s oldest golf major.
Burnham and Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports, and West Lancashire will hosted a 36-hole stroke play event, with five spots available for Royal Portrush qualfication.
The LIV Golf star will be gutted after he targeted The Open as a prime target for the season.
Ireland had a number of players across the four venues with Ronan Mullarney currently competing in a four-man playoff at West Lancashire.
Big names to miss out include Ian Poulter, David Puig, Erik Van Rooyen to name but a few.
Royal Cinque Ports (5 places)
- Dean Burmester (–8)
- Curtis Knipes (–7)
- Nathan Kimsey (–6)
- Sebastian Cave (a) (–5)
- John Axelsen (–4)
Burnham & Berrow (5 places)
- Harry Hall (–8)
- Jacob Skov Olesen (–8)
- Justin Walters (–8)
- OJ Farrell (–6)
- Anirban Lahiri (–5)
Dundonald Links (5 places)
- Lee Westwood (–7)
- Daniel Young (–6)
- Angel Hidalgo (–6)
- Jesper Sandborg (–5)
- Connor Graham (a) (–4)
West Lancashire (5 places)
- Lucas Herbert (–8)
- Sampson Zheng (–7)
- George Bloor (–6)
- Richard Teder (a) (–5)
- Oliver Lindell (–5) Additional tie for last spot: Ronan Mullarney and Sam Bairstow (–5), holding playoff positions
