Open despair as Higgins counts cost of extra club

Waterville’s David Higgins was left ruing a bizarre mistake in a British Open Local Final qualifier at the North Berwick club after missing out in a play-off as he was carrying 15 clubs.

Higgins had ended his two qualifying rounds with scores of 70 and 67 for a five under par tally.

It left the Irish golfer trailing one shot behind leading qualifier and England amateur, Jimmy Mullen who signed for a pair of 68s just two days after finishing fifth the prestigious Brabazon Trophy.

Higgins found himself tied second with the Scottish pair of Gareth Wright and George Murray and that meant a play-off between three players for just two spots into the July 18th commencing British Open at nearby Muirfield.

However in between ending his second qualifying round and teeing-up in the play-off Higgins had inadvertently put an extra club in his bag, a rescue club.

While Higgins, who used a local Scottish caddie, would not discuss the blunder, it appears he believed he would not qualify, so started packing his bag, and it wasn’t until he got down the green at the first extra hole he noticed the distinctive head cover of the offending 15th club.

Wright had birdied the hole and with Murray managing a par, Higgins called over an R and A rules official but had no other option to call a two-stroke penalty on himself. It meant ‘gifting’ a place into golf’s oldest major to Murray and with Higgins leaving the course and offering not to comment.

Meanwhile, at Dunbar, Colm Moriarty missed out on qualifying for the Open by a whisker. The Athlone man was in prime position after the opening round of qualifying but his second round got off to the worst possible start with a bogey at the first and fifth. He regrouped to pull it back, finishing one under for the round but that was not enough.

Amateur International Kevin Phelan also narrowly missed out at Dunbar. The Waterford Castle player, who last month made the cut at the US Open, finished five under after rounds of 69 and 66. Phelan came out firing on his second round, shooting four birdies on the front nine but couldn’t push on after the turn.

Meanwhile, Brendan McCarroll and Old Conna’s Neil O’Briain ended the afternoon three under and one under respectively.

Last year’s Irish Amateur Champion Gavin Moynihan finished three under at Musselburgh as his bid for a chance at Muirfield glory floundered.

The Island star carded nine birdies overall, but four bogeys and a double bogey left him wondering what if in the locker room. Finally, the Irish challenge for qualification at Gullane petered out with Kilarney’s Daniel Sugrue and Bushfoot’s David Jones finishing four and seven over respectively.

And despite a big crowd following, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie also missed out. Monty was tied second after the opening round with a 69 but then got caught up in the snail-like pace of play to shoot a disappointing 76 in the wet and miserable conditions to finish tied 13th.