Jan. 14, 2005 – A field of 37 players will take part in International Final Qualifying for the Open Championship at Kingston Heath later this month, with those succeeding, heading to St Andrews in July.
28-year-old Paul Sheehan from Melbourne is the top ranked competitor and will be hoping to gain a place in The Open for only the second time following his qualification at IFQ in 2004. Sheehan plays much of his golf in Japan and broke through in Japan in 2004 claiming his maiden Japanese Tour event by four shots in the Fujisankei Classic near Tokyo in June. He rounded off a successful year on the Japanese Tour with a four-shot win in the season ending Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, winning the AUD$1.06 million first prize. Also in the field is 45-year-old European Tour player Peter Fowler (AUS), who will be hoping to play in The Open for a ninth time. Most recently, he tied for 22nd place at Royal St George's in 2003, easily his best position since first playing in The Open at Birkdale in 1983.
James Nitties attempted to qualify last year as an amateur and, as he sets out on his professional career, has already clearly marked out his intentions with the runner-up spot in the 2004 Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship at Coolum.
Andrew Buckle, Matthew Hazelden and Adam Le Vesconte were the other three qualifiers at Kingston Heath last year and are again competing for places in this year's championship. Melbourne born David McKenzie, who tied for second at the 2004 MasterCard Masters with Greg Chalmers will also be vying for a place, as will 2003 USA Amateur Champion, Newcastle born, Nick Flanagan.
In 2005, IFQ competitions of 36 hole stroke play will also be played at Atlantic Beach Golf Club, Cape Town, South Africa on January 13 & 14; Saujana, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday 6 & Thursday 7 April; Sunningdale, Berkshire, England on Monday 27 June and Canoe Brook, Summit, New Jersey, USA also on Monday 27 June.
Regional Qualifying will be retained at 16 venues and Local Final Qualifying (LFQ) will take place at Ladybank, Leven Links, Lundin and Scotscraig on Saturday 9 & Sunday 10 July. 12 places will be available from LFQ.
The field for The Open remains at 156 with approximately 100 players being exempt. The Open Championship will be held at St Andrews from July 14-17.
The full field for the IFQ in Australasia is below:
Adam Crawford, Adam Le Vesconte, Andrew Bonhomme, Andrew Buckle, Andrew Tschudin, Brad Heaven, Chris Downes, Craig Carmichael, David Bransdon, David Diaz, David McKenzie, James Nitties, Jens Nilsson, Kurt Barnes, Leigh McKechnie, Lucas Parsons, Marc Leishman (Am), Marcus Cain, Martin Doyle, Matthew Ecob, Matthew Hazelden, Matthew Millar, Nathan Green, Nicholas Flanagan, Paul Marantz, Paul Sheehan, Paul Spargo, Peter Fowler, Scott Laycock, Shane Tait, Shannon Beck, Simon Nash, Steve Collins, Steven Bowditch, Stuart Bouvier, Tony Carolan, Wayne Perske
Source: PGA Tour
