International Final Qualifying (IFQ) for the 2005 Open Championship over the Old Course at St Andrews in will again be played on five continents, with the European qualifier again taking place at Sunningdale Golf Club, Berkshire, England, on Monday, June 27.
The venues and dates are: - (Africa) Atlantic Beach, Cape Town, January 13 and 14; (Australasia) Kingston Heath, Melbourne, January 25 and 26; (Asia) Saujana, Kuala Lumpur, April 6 and 7; (America) Canoe Brook, Summit, New Jersey, June 27; (Europe) Sunningdale, Berkshire, 27 June.
Mike Tate, Director of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, said; "We were pleased with the response of world ranked players to our introduction of International Final Qualifying and are proceeding along similar lines for 2005.
"IFQ has definitely made it easier for players to attempt to qualify on the continent where they play most of their competitive golf and our decision to make IFQ a permanent feature has been endorsed by Tours around the world. Each IFQ competition will have a maximum field of 120 and it is our aim to have that number of players completing 36 holes at each venue."
All venues are the same as 2004 with the exception of IFQ (America) which will be played at Canoe Brook, Summit, New Jersey, a venue close to the previous week’’s US PGA Tour tournament.
Tate added: "We are delighted to be going to Canoe Brook which has two courses of exceptional quality and I have no doubt that they will provide fair yet challenging tests for the players who are hoping to qualify for The Open."
If more than 120 players enter, those with the higher Official World Golf Ranking will prevail. Players who are unsuccessful in gaining a starting place in IFQ may transfer their entry to LFQ.
Each of Africa, Asia and Australasia will have four qualifying places while America and Europe will each be guaranteed 12.
Regional Qualifying (RQ) will be retained at 16 venues and LFQ will take place at Ladybank, Leven Links, Lundin and Scotscraig on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July. A total of 12 places will be available from LFQ.
In 2005, players on the Japan Tour will continue to gain exemption from RQ and LFQ, with the final two places coming from a ‘current form’’ money list that ends at the Mizuno Open. The leading four non-exempt players in the Mizuno Open will also gain places in The Open.
