Open and Closed: Final qualifiers determined

Monday's 36-hole final qualifiers for the British Open brought heartbreak for several big-name players who had hoped to pick up the claret jug at Royal Troon next month. Chief among them was British star Justin Rose, whose chances disappeared with a killer triple-bogey. Also missing out were Ian Woosnam, Jose Maria Olazabal and Jesper Parnevik.

06.28.2004 03:40 pm (EST)

SUNNINGDALE, England -- Colin Montgomerie at last won a playoff in a major on Monday. But this time it was simply to qualify for the British Open at Royal Troon next month.

Montgomerie came through on the second extra hole of sudden death after being involved in a 12-man shootout for six spots at the 36-hole international final qualifying competition at Sunningdale Golf Club.

Another 15 players made the field in a simultaneous 36-hole qualifier at Congressional Country Club in suburban Washington, D.C., on Monday. Perhaps most significant among them was Luke Donald, a young Englishman who won the NCAA Championship while a student at Northwestern and who plays the PGA Tour on a regular basis.

Donald has chosen to remain in America this summer at the expense of his chances to make the European Ryder Cup team, but a big performance in the British Open could give him quite a boost toward making the team anyway.

Mathias Gronberg holed a bunker shot for eagle on No. 10, sending him to a 31 on the back nine of the famed Blue Course at Congressional to share medalist honors with Carl Petterson and Spike McRoy at 9-under 134.

The others who qualified at Congressional were former PGA champion Steve Elkington, Rod Pampling, Bo Van Pelt, Matt Goggin, Tim Herron, Hunter Mahan, Aaron Baddeley, Skip Kendall, Glen Day, Bob Estes and Cameron Beckman.

Jeff Maggert, coming off a third-place finish at the U.S. Open and 10th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, and former PGA champion Mark Brooks withdrew when it was clear they would not qualify.

With 17 places available from the star-studded 120-man field at Sunningdale, the dozen playoff participants tied for 12th, three shots behind medalists Paul Broadhurst, Mark Foster and Nicolas Colsaerts.

The other players at Sunningdale making the field include 2002 Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley, Kenneth Ferrie, Euan Little, Simon Wakefield, Miles Tunnicliff, Christian Cevaer, Gary Emerson and Klas Eriksson.

And in addition to Montgomerie, the players making it through the playoff to join the starting line-up at Troon are Eduardo Romero, Marten Olander, Peter Hedblom, Maarten Lafeber and Warren Bennett.

"It's the first decent thing that has happened to me for a while," said Montgomerie, in the throes of a divorce. "I set off in horrendous fashion, 2-over for the first four holes knowing I would probably need 7- or 8-under. But I'm fine now I'm through, even though it's through the back door. It was a tough day."

He was upset earlier after spotting what appeared to be a face in the crowd he did not want to see.

"That was horrible," he later commented. "Now I should have a realistic chance -- I know every blade of grass there" at Royal Troon, which is his home club.

"After missing the U.S. Open (the first major he missed since 1991) I didn't want to miss the British Open as well."

Montgomerie, who lost playoffs for the 1994 U.S. Open and 1995 PGA Championship, succeeded on Monday, while Justin Rose, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal and Jesper Parnevik all failed.

And Rose, who failed by one like Parnevik, is now thinking of pulling out of this week's Smurfit European Open.

The 23-year-old was tied for second at the midway point in the 36-hole event after an opening with a 6-under-par 65 on the New Course. But when he switched to the adjoining Old Course, he managed only a 1-over-par 73.

"I'm gutted, to be honest," he said afterward.

It continues a disappointing run for Rose just two months after he led the Masters for two rounds -- and if he decides not to play in the Smurfit European Open in Ireland, where three final spots are still to be had, there will be just one place in the British Open left available to him. And for that, he would have to be the leading non-exempt player in next week's Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

That route is also still open to Woosnam, Olazabal and Parnevik, but Ryder Cup Captain Langer will definitely miss his first Open since 1979. The German returned only last week from two months out with a wrist injury, missed the cut in the French Open and has now decided to take another month-long break.

"I was playing great before the injury," he commented, "but it's almost like night and day. I just need to fight my way back."

McGinley was among those who did qualify, hitting back from an opening 70 with a 65 on the New Course to be 8-under.

Rose, hoping to make his debut against the Americans in September, missed the halfway cut in the U.S. Open two weeks ago and was also 15-over-par in finishing well down the field in the French Open at the weekend.

"I'll make a decision [about the European Open] tomorrow, but there's no point going if you've got no chance to win and I'm hitting it terrible," he said. "It was in my hands and I've only got myself to blame really. I wish I knew what it was, but I seem to blow hot and cold."

It was only last month that he was fourth in the Memorial Tournament in Ohio.

"I had a good spell of events, but the last couple have been unexplainable."

It was only in the last seven holes that it all went wrong, though. From 8-under he crashed to 4-under, triple-bogeying the 12th after driving into the trees and bogeying the next. He made what he called "a brave effort" with birdies at the 15th and 16th, but three-putted the next and missed a 12-footer on the last.

At Congressional, one shocker was that an astonishing 53 players failed to show up at all. What was supposed to be a field of 120 turned out to be just 67 -- and that will inevitably lead to a review of the new system designed to make it easier for United States-based players to qualify.

Royal and Ancient Golf Club officals also said they will query those who pulled out, and if their explanations are deemed unsatisfactory, they could be refused entry to next year's championship.

"It is disappointing and we will have to analyze who has withdrawn and why they have done so," said David Hill, the R&A's Director of Championships. "Anybody who withdraws has to have a good reason, and if not the championship committee can take whatever action they feel appropriate.

"One of the reasons for hosting international final qualifying was to give young players, in particular in America, the opportunity to qualify there and save them the expense of having to come over here to do it."

A total of 46 players scratched over the weekend and the other seven simply did not show up for their tee times Monday morning.

This is the first year the R&A has held qualifying outside the United Kingdom, with international sites in Malaysia, South African and Australia, as well as Wentworth.

Among those who pulled out were Corey Pavin, winner of the 1995 U.S. Open. He had an exemption for Royal Troon, but it was taken away when the international qualifying was introduced.

Other no-shows included U.S. Tour winners Billy Mayfair, Rory Sabbatini, Steve Stricker, Carlos Franco, J.L. Lewis, Jose Coceres, Fulton Allem, Tommy Armour and Grant Waite.

Parnevik, who has just rejoined the European Tour to be eligible for the Ryder Cup, and Langer were left regretting that they did not take part in the American qualifier, where the reduced field would have greatly increased their odds of success.

"I was kicking myself when I heard all the talk," said Parnevik. "I tried to change where I played, but couldn't.

"Some of the guys were not playing the U.S. Tour event up there (the Booz Allen Classic) and didn't feel like going," he added. "And a lot were fed up with the time it took to play the U.S. Open qualifying and didn't want to go through it again."

Meanwhile, Angel Cabrera, the world's 38th-ranked golfer, may have badly blundered in his bid to make the British Open. Cabrera pulled out of the qualifier at Sunningdale, having told compatriot Eduardo Romero he did not need to play it because he was already sure of his place at Royal Troon.

But he has yet to secure his spot. His runner-up finish at the Volvo PGA Championship came after the cut-off point for the world's top 50, so he is technically still not in the field. In fact, he has to hope to secure one of the three spots in this European Open or the one spot available at the Scottish Open.