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Notebook: UCLA star Cantlay gets spot in British Open after rule change

By PA Sport
Published on
Notebook: UCLA star Cantlay gets spot in British Open after rule change

UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay is going to the British Open under a new qualifying category for golf’s oldest championship.

The Royal & Ancient said Wednesday that the winner of the McCormack Medal as the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking at the end of the amateur season will earn an automatic spot in the next year's British Open. That change is effective for 2012, when the Open will be played at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

Cantlay, the low amateur at the U.S. Open and runner-up at the U.S. Amateur, won the McCormack Medal this year as the top-ranked amateur. He already has earned exemptions to the Masters and the U.S. Open in 2012 for reaching the championship match at the U.S. Amateur.

"The Open Championship entry criteria has been designed to ensure that we have the world's best professional and amateur players competing," said R&A Director Mike Tate.

"The WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings) has grown considerably since its launch in 2007 and now covers more than 2,500 counting events and almost 6,000 players representing 100 countries," he explained. "It is only right that the player who proves to be the most consistent over the course of the amateur season competes at the Open."

McILROY TO PLAY IRISH OPEN: Rory McIlroy has confirmed he will play in the Irish Open next summer rather than return to Congressional, scene of his U.S. Open victory this year, for the PGA Tour's AT&T National.

"There has been a lot of speculation on whether or not I will play the Irish Open next year, so I am happy to announce that I will definitely play the tournament," the 22-year-old Northern Irishman said. "For me the Irish Open has always been, and will continue to be, one of the most important events on the global golf calendar.

"It's our national open and it's obviously a title that I would love to win at some stage in my career," he added. "With Irish golf on such a high in recent years, it is important that we put on a good show not only for the home fans, but also for the global golf audience who will be watching the event on TV.

"A lot has been made of me joining the PGA Tour again next year, but in reality it's not a drastic change to the schedule I have played in recent seasons," he said. "It just means that I will be adding a few more events to my schedule in America in 2012. I'll continue to play a similar schedule of events in Europe and will obviously fulfil my commitment to the European Tour."

The Irish Open takes place on June 28-July 1.

TITLE SPONSOR FOR WALES OPEN: The Celtic Manor Resort has signed a three-year agreement with the International Sports Promotion Society as the new title sponsor for its flagship European Tour golf event, now known as the ISPS Handa Wales Open.

Chaired by Japanese businessman and philanthropist Dr. Haruhisa Handa, ISPS supports the International Blind Golf Association (IBGA) and will be raising the profile of blind and disabled golf through its association with the Wales Open and other golf tournaments around the world.

The 2012 ISPS Handa Wales Open, set for May 31-June 3, will be ISPS’s first European Tour event, following sponsorships of tournaments on the European Senior Tour, Ladies European Tour, Asian Tour, Japanese Golf Tour Organization, PGA of Japan Seniors Tour, Australian PGA and Legends Tour.

With a prize fund of $2.8 million and staged on the Twenty Ten Course, which hosted the 2010 Ryder Cup, the ISPS Handa Wales Open has grown into one of the most established golf events in Europe. It counts Ryder Cup stars Paul McGinley, Paul Lawrie, Ian Poulter, Miguel Angel Jimenéz, Robert Karlsson and Graeme McDowell among its former champions.