'Closing dates'
Closing dates for first international Open qualifying
12/03/2003 09:54am BST
The closing date for entries to the first International Final Qualifying competition ever held is tomorrow, Thursday, December 4. The event, the first of five to be held throughout the world, will be played at the Atlantic Beach Golf Club, Cape Town, South Africa, on Thursday-Friday, January 8-9, 2004
The new events, introduced for the first time by the R&A, will give international players a greater opportunity to gain a place among the 156 competitors who will battle for The Open Championship title at Royal Troon from July 15-18, 2004.
At least four places in the Open field will be on offer to those who play the IFQ event in South Africa.
The second IFQ event will be played at Kingston Heath Golf Club, Melbourne, Australia, from Tuesday-Wednesday, January 20-21, 2004. The closing date for entries is December 11, 2003.
Late entries can be faxed to the R&A headquarters in St Andrews.
- Open Championship Notebook: Westwood inspired — Lee Westwood believes his best-ever finish in a major is just a sign of things to come, while Vijay Singh needs some rare time off to regroup before the PGA Championship and the final hole at Troon turned into a Love-fest. Plus, Jerry Kelly hustles back to Milwaukee, while low amateur Stuart Wilson will be back at work Monday morning, and more..
- Woods now reduced to talking about contending — Tiger Woods failed to win a major for the ninth time in a row Sunday at Royal Troon, and has finished an average of eight shots back in those losses. Where once all he discussed was winning, Woods now can only talk about what he needs to do to get back into the hunt in future majors.
- Mickelson can't wait for next year at St. Andrews — Don't get Phil Mickelson wrong. He's disappointed about coming up short in The Open Championship on Sunday, but he's also very encouraged. After having never finished in the top 10 in the Open, his third-place finish at Royal Troon has him believing he's come to grips with links golf and salivating for another chance to win on the famed Old Course in 2005.
- Els haunted by the Open-winning putt that got away — Ernie Els had a 10-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole of The Open Championship Sunday, but misread it. An hour later, he lost a playoff to Todd Hamilton, and admitted afterward that he will be thinking about that lost chance to win his second Open title for along time.
- Montgomerie falls short but proves he's not done yet — Colin Montgomerie didn't win The Open Championship on his home course of Royal Troon, as he failed to mount a rally on Sunday. But a strong performance in front of a supportive crowd proved that he's still an elite player and worthy of a wild-card selection to the European Ryder Cup team.
- Hamilton stuns Els in playoff to win claret jug — Move over Ben Curtis. You have company in the major shocker department. Little-known Todd Hamilton stared down the best players in the world and never blinked Sunday, winning the 133rd Open Championship in a stunning four-hole playoff over three-time major winner Ernie Els at Royal Troon Golf Club.
- Sunday Q&A with TNT's Billy Kratzert — TNT course reporter Billy Kratzert spent two hours Sunday morning in the tower off the 18th green and got a first-hand look at what the players faced at Royal Troon Golf Club. In his opinion, the conditions were the toughest they had been all week. He also offered his thoughts on surprise third-round leader Todd Hamilton's chances.
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