Yorkshireman Sam Bairstow will tee it up in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale after earning his place in the field for the final men’s major championship of 2026 through Final Qualifying.
Sam, who is based at Hallowes, led the field at West Lancashire with rounds of 66 and 68 giving him a 10 under-par total.
“I didn’t have my best game this morning, but I managed to get it from tee to green and get a decent score out of it, so that gave me a boost going into this afternoon. It was great to get through,” said Sam, who last qualified for The Open at St Andrews in 2022.
“I’ve played here a lot so I knew what was coming. Leading coming into the back nine gave me confidence. I’ve tended to look at leaderboards in the past and what everyone else is doing, but I just focused on getting as good a score as I could and it seemed to work. Getting back to The Open means a lot, I’ve missed it the last few years since St Andrews. Birkdale is close to home and I’m sure it’s going to be great.”
Sam will be joined in The Open by Matthew Jordan, who will have Northern Golfer columnist Chris Simmons on the bag at Royal Birkdale. Matthew, who also came through qualifying for the US Open at Walton Heath earlier this season, made it through at West Lancashire following a three-man playoff that also featured Joe Dean.
“I’m knackered but really pleased to have qualified for The Open,” said Matthew. “Days like this are really long and to not come away with qualifying after a playoff would have been gutting – getting it done makes it all worthwhile. The support out here today was amazing. I actually woke up feeling terrible, I don’t know if it was a bit of food poisoning, so I was so tired after the first 18 holes. I could feel my body giving up on me as I was so tired but seeing all these people gave me a real boost and it kept with me. I’m really looking forward to being at Royal Birkdale.”
Twenty players from a field of 288 split across four venues earned their places in The Open through Final Qualifying. For the full results from all four venues click here.
