As first reserve Gary Murphy has secured one of the coveted 96 places at Sunningdale on Monday, June 7th for the International Final Qualifying – Europe for The Open Championship which is to be held at St. Andrew’s next month .
Darren Clarke is the highest-ranked of ten former Ryder Cup players who will attempt to secure one of 10 Open spots available at Sunningdale Golf Club. Fellow Irishman Paul
McGinley, a veteran of three matches between Europe and the USA, will also take his place in the field. Also attempting to qualify on Monday is the 2010 European Ryder Cup team Captain,
Colin Montgomerie, who has made 20 consecutive Open appearances since making his debut in 1990.
The other former Ryder Cup players are Thomas Bjorn, Niclas Fasth, Paul Broadhurst, Peter Baker, David Howell, Ignacio Garrido and Andrew Coltart.
The list includes three players who have won on the European Tour as amateurs: Spain’s Pablo Martin, Danny Lee of New Zealand and Irishman Shane Lowry, all of whom now play professionally.
Matteo Manassero, the 17-year-old Italian who earned the Silver Medal at the 2009 Open Championship and the Silver Cup at the 2010 Masters Tournament for finishing as the highest-placed amateur in both is also competing.
The additional Irish players in the mix are Gareth Maybin and Peter Lawrie.
Play will get underway at 6.30am local time on the Old and New courses at Sunningdale.
Live scores and stories will be published on www.opengolf.com throughout the day.
