Australians Tim Wood and Michael Wright together with Josh Geary from New Zealand have booked their places in The 138th Open Championship at Turnberry after claiming the top three positions at International Final Qualifying - Australasia at Kingston Heath in Melbourne.
Wood and Geary finished on top of the leaderboard with totals of four under par 140, one shot better than Wright who took the third and final place on offer. It was a nervous wait particularly for Wright as veteran Peter Senior threatened all afternoon. Senior finished his morning round on three under par. After a turbulent second round, he was two under on the 17th and, needing a birdie to force the play-off, could only manage par on the 18th, giving Wright the chance to compete in his second Open Championship.
“I was a lot more nervous this time around because I had to wait and it went down to the wire,” said 34 year old Wright who qualified more easily in 2006, finishing three shots clear of the field on that occasion. “I’m really excited. The conditions were really strong this afternoon, especially when the wind got up, but it was one of those days where the putts dropped when I needed them to.”
Rounds of 71 and 69 saw local talent Wood finish with a solid two round total, but he had a two hour wait to see if he would get through. And whilst he had time to soak up the thought, it hadn’t quite hit him that he was headed for the game’s oldest Championship.
“I don’t know if it has sunk in yet,” said Wood. “I feel like I am going to wake up and say, damn that was a great dream, I qualified for The Open!”
Twenty-four-year-old Josh Geary claims the honour of being the first New Zealander to qualify through International Final Qualifying since its introduction in 2004. Geary said without a doubt qualifying for The Open was the biggest thing to happen to him in his golfing career but like Wood, he needed time for it to sink in.
“It’s pretty sweet, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet, I’m still pinching myself!” said Geary who revealed that this was the first qualifying event he had ever been successful at. I have been working really hard with my coach James Cupa back in Auckland on my swing and I really felt like I hit my irons well today. I felt like I was really hitting some form and it looks like things really came together just at the right time for me.”
For Geary, it will not only be his first Open Championship but his first trip to Europe when he heads to Scotland in July. The 138th Open Championship will be held at the Ailsa Course, Turnberry, Ayrshire, Scotland from July 16-19, 2009.
Final Scores (AUS unless specified):
Josh Geary (NZ), 70 70 - 140 Q
Timothy Wood, 71 69 - 140 Q
Michael Wright , 69 72 - 141 Q
Cameron Percy, 67 75 - 142
Peter Senior, 69 73 - 142
Andrew Martin, 72 71 - 143
Steve Dartnall, 72 71 - 143
Kim Felton, 73 71 - 144
Heath Reed, 72 72 - 144
Peter Fowler, 72 73 - 145
Michael Brennan, 72 73 - 145
Peter O'Malley, 73 73 - 146
Ryan Haller, 75 72 - 147
Anthony Summers, 71 76 - 147
Aaron Townsend, 74 73 - 147
David Diaz , 72 76 - 148
Anthony Brown, 74 74 - 148
Michael Long (NZ), 74 74 - 148
David Lutterus, 72 76 - 148
Craig Parry, 77 72 - 149
Craig Spence, 74 75 - 149
Damian Ulrich (Swi), 73 76 - 149
Adam Bland, 76 73 - 149
Steven Jeffress, 75 74 - 149
David McKenzie, 74 75 - 149
Kurt Barnes, 74 76 - 150
Jonathan Abbott, 76 74 - 150
Paul Sheehan, 75 75 - 150
Andrew Tampion, 75 75 - 150
Craig Scott, 72 78 - 150
Adam Crawford, 72 78 - 150
John Wade, 74 76 - 150
Alistair Presnell, 78 72 - 150
Brad Kennedy, 75 76 - 151
Leigh McKechnie, 75 76 - 151
Ashley Hall, 77 75 - 152
Andrew Tschudin, 77 76 - 153
Brent McCullough, 74 82 - 156
Peter Wilson, 79 78 - 157
Steven Bowditch, 74 84 - 158
Christopher Campbell, 82 79 - 161
Wayne Perske, NR NR NR
Andrew Johnson, 77 Disq Disq
Scott Laycock, 78 Disq Disq
