Open places up for grabs

Gary Player's absence through injury has robbed the British Open championship final qualifying competition of a touch of romance over the weekend.

But there will still be plenty of well-known names at the four courses around Muirfield - and many desperate to make a name for themselves.

Fifteen-year-old Abbas-Ali Mawji, from Zimbabwe, will be trying at Luffness New to become one of the youngest players ever to compete in the Open, having come through the regional qualifying round last Monday.

He is up against former Ryder Cup player Paul Broadhurst, joint holder of the lowest round in major history with his 63 at St Andrews in 1990, and ex-US PGA champion Mark Brooks, who lost a play-off to Retief Goosen for the US Open last year.

Australian Steve Elkington, who beat Colin Montgomerie in a play-off for the 1995 US PGA, is at Dunbar along with former US Open champion Jerry Pate, up-and-coming Englishman Luke Donald, 1999 Ryder Cup captain Mark James and 1999 Open runner-up Jean Van de Velde - if he recovers from his knee injury in time.

Swede Jarmo Sandelin, another member of the Ryder Cup team three years ago, is at North Berwick along with Hertfordshire's James Conteh, son of former world boxing champion John.

Gullane, where Player was due to play, has US Tour winner Paul Stankowski - fresh from practising with Tiger Woods in Ireland - and last year's leading amateur David Dixon.

There are 120 players at each of the courses, with only around eight spots in the championship proper up for grabs.