The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews will introduce International Final Qualifying for the 2004 Open Golf Championship which will be played at Royal Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland, from July 15-18.
International Final Qualifying (IFQ) competitions will be played in Africa, Asia, Australasia, America and Europe and will give any non-exempt player holding Official World Golf Ranking points at the closing date for entry to his chosen IFQ, the opportunity to qualify for the Open Golf Championship in his home territory. However any player entering the Open Golf Championship may select any of the five IFQ venues, irrespective of where he normally competes or may continue to play in Local Final Qualifying (LFQ) as before.
The field at each IFQ will consist of a maximum of 120 players and if more than that number enters, players with the higher number of Official World Golf Ranking points at the closing date will prevail. Players who are unsuccessful in gaining a starting place in IFQ may transfer their entry to LFQ.
In 2004, IFQ competitions of 36 hole stroke play will be played at Saujana Golf & Country Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (date TBC), in South Africa (venue and date TBC), on Tuesday 24 February at Kingston Heath Golf Club, Victoria, Australia and on Monday 28 June at Sunningdale Golf Club, Old and New Courses, England and Congressional Country Club, Gold and Blue Courses, Maryland, USA.
Each of Africa, Asia and Australasia will be guaranteed at least four qualifying places while America and Europe will each be guaranteed at least 12.
Regional Qualifying (RQ) will be retained at 16 venues and LFQ will still take place at Glasgow (Gailes), Irvine, Turnberry Kintyre and Western Gailes on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 July, one day earlier than has been the recent practice. A total of 12 places will be available from LFQ.
The field for the Open Golf Championship will remain at 156 and if the 2004 modified exemption conditions were applied to recent Open entries, approximately 96 players would be exempt. With 36 players coming from IFQ and 12 from LFQ, this would leave 12 remaining qualifying spots to be allocated at the discretion of the Championship Committee who expect to take into account the relative strengths of the tours of Africa, Asia, Australasia, America and Europe.
In 2004, players on the Japan Tour will continue to gain exemption from RQ and LFQ in the existing manner, with the final four places coming from a ‘current form’’ money list that ends at the Mizuno Open.
"We have felt for some time that we should review our Open Golf Championship exemption policy and qualifying procedures" said Peter Dawson, Secretary of the Royal & Ancient.
"In particular, we wanted to make it easier for World Ranked players, who might not otherwise be exempt, to attempt to qualify in the continent where they play most of their competitive golf. We are therefore introducing five International Final Qualifying competitions throughout the world."
