Open hopefuls keen to avoid knock-out blow

The son of a former world boxing champion and two professionals from Ghana are among the players who are 36 holes away from playing in the British Open following yesterday’s 16 regional qualifying competitions.

John Conteh’s 26-year-old son James, attached to the Moor Park club in Hertfordshire, won the event at Hadley Wood in north London and hopes to make it third time lucky at the final qualifying in Scotland on Saturday and Sunday.

It is a tall order, however, as 320 golfers will be competing over four courses for a mere 12 spots at Royal Troon next week.

Conteh, who turned professional two years ago, produced a five-under-par 67 containing an eagle and eight birdies, to lead just as he did at the Northants County course two years ago.

“I know it’s going to be hard up at Western Gailes, but there are no guarantees for anybody,” he said.

Two years after 47 Nigerians failed to show for the regional qualifying in what was suspected to be a visa scam, there were seven more no-shows from the 12-strong African contingent listed to play at Orsett in Essex.

However, on this occasion the organising Royal and Ancient Club had been informed that the seven, mostly from Ghana, would not be on the tee.

“We received a fax on Sunday night from the Ghana Professional Golfers’ Association listing a number of players who had been refused visas to travel,” said the R&A’s manager of championship operations Rhodri Price.

“It is a shame because these players have paid their entrance fees, but they were refused visas at the last minute. We will have to talk with the Ghanaian authorities to see if something can be done in future.”

Their cause could well be helped by the fact that two of those who did play, Emos Korblah and John Mawuli, made it through, as did Kenyan Charandeep Thethy.

“It has cost me $2,500 (€2,034) to come here to play and now I will have to look for a sponsor to cover my expenses in Scotland,” said 32-year-old Korblah.

Paul Curry, one of 10 players to have shot 60 on the European Tour (at the 1992 Scottish Open), also progressed at Orsett and Yorkshire amateur Gareth Evans qualified at Alwoodley despite having to borrow a driver from a friend after his own was ruled as non-conforming by the R&A.

Evans now intends hanging on to it after shooting a level-par 71 and tying for first.

Former European Tour player Ross Drummond coasted through, but then revealed his next goal is to try to miss the final qualifying.

The 47-year-old posted a four-under-par 68 at Renfrew and led, but he has a place in this week’s Scottish Open and if he makes the halfway cut at Loch Lomond he will pull out of the Open field.

“I’m not bothered about playing in the Open, to be honest,” admitted Drummond, who last played in the championship at Birkdale in 1998.

“Doing well in the Scottish Open is my main focus and I want to try and play in all four rounds of that. That would obviously mean giving up my place in final qualifying.

“If I miss the cut then I’ll go for final qualifying, but the chances of getting through that are slim given that there are only three qualifiers from each course.”