Lowry in Open qualifier

Shane Lowry, shock winner of the Irish Open as an amateur last month, will be looking to bounce back from missing the cut in his first two professional tournaments at Monday’s 36-hole Open Championship qualifying event at Sunningdale.

A total of 96 players will be battling for 10 places at Turnberry next month.

The highest-ranked player in the field is Sweden’s Johan Edfors, who hopes to repeat his success in the recent US Open qualifier at Walton Heath, while there are two former Open runners-up taking part.

Dane Thomas Bjorn finished joint second to Tiger Woods at St Andrews in 2000 and three years later at Sandwich led by three with four to play, but dropped four shots and lost by one to Ben Curtis.

Thomas Levet was involved in the four-man play-off at Muirfield in 2002 and went to a fifth extra hole before being beaten by Ernie Els.