By Daniel Rapaport
After playing in 41 straight major championships prior to 2021, Rickie Fowler will now miss his second of the calendar year after failing to qualify for the U.S. Open by a shot.

Playing in the loaded Final Qualifying site in Columbus, Ohio—after finishing T-11 in the Memorial on Sunday—Fowler began Monday’s 36-hole competition with a one-over 73 at Brookside Golf & Country Club, then closed with a six-under 66 at The Lakes Golf & Country Club. That left him in a tie for 18th, one shot out of a 5-for-4 playoff to round out the 16 qualifiers who will advance at Torrey Pines.

That group of 16 consists of 14 PGA Tour pros, one mini-tour player (Michael Johnson) and one amateur (Pierceson Coody). Chez Reavie and Erik van Rooyen shared medalist honours at 12-under 132, while 2011 Masters winner Charl Schwartzel also played his way into the field.

Play on Monday was delayed for roughly three hours as a rainstorm passed through the area. The vast majority of the field had to return on Tuesday to complete their second rounds—including Fowler, who birdied the 16th hole to get within one shot of qualifying position. He made par on the 17th and then on the par-4 18th, he hit his approach over the green and faced a long chip back that stopped just short of cup for birdie that would have gotten him into the playoff.

“This morning it was really, yeah. gas pedal down,” Fowler said. “We executed that minus the putts. I gave myself looks, I made a nice one to start on 14 to kind of get things going. Had some good looks coming in. Unfortunately, there were some tough clubs that had some movement and it was tough to match the kind of line and speed, ones that you kind of get out there and hope you got it right. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”

Fowler will be competing in a playoff for the second alternate spot from the Columbus sectional.

This will be the first U.S. Open that Fowler will miss since 2010. He has three top-10s in the championship, including a tie for second in the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Fowler also missed this year’s Masters, the product of a barren stretch of play that saw him drop as low as No. 128 in the World Ranking, and needed a special invitation from the PGA of America to get into the field at the PGA Championship.

He has shown signs of improvement, however, with a T-8 at the PGA—which was his first top-10 on the PGA Tour since January 2020—and the T-11 at last week’s Memorial.

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The most notable golfer to grab a tee time at Carnoustie: two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen. The 49-year-old South African shot rounds of 71-72 in windy conditions at Prince’s in Kent, England. With a bogey on his last hole, after birdies on his 34th and 35th, Goosen was nervous he might have cost himself the chance to play in his first Open since 2015 and the 19th of his career. But it turned out he was safely in.

“I am glad it played tough today, as I play better when it is difficult,” said Goosen, who has six top-10 Open finishes, including a T-5 in 2005 and 2009. “I drove the ball well, and my long putting in the wind was good. This will be my last Open as a regular tour player—next year I’ll be with the seniors—but I’m looking forward to it. Carnoustie is always tough but I’m sure it will be in great condition.”

Also advancing out of Prince’s was England’s Tom Lewis. In 2011, the then 20-year-old earned low amateur honors at Royal St. George’s with a T-30 showing. Shortly after he turned pro and was expected to make a big splash as a former British Boys’ champion. Carnoustie, however, will be Lewis’ first Open as a professional.

“I have been thinking about the Open for the last seven years,” said Lewis, who birdied four of his final eight holes to cap off a 72-68 performance. “I haven’t played since I was the leading amateur in 2011 at Royal St George’s and that’s why I came to qualify at Prince’s—this part of the world has been good to me. I’ve been close at Hillside the last few years but managed to mess up but I didn’t mess up today.”

Lewis also earned a spot in the field at the U.S. Open last month via sectional qualifying, but missed the cut at Shinnecock Hills.

Related: Graeme McDowell drops out of Final Qualifying after his clubs are lost by airline

Here is the complete list of players who advanced via Final Qualifying (20 players competing for three spots at each site):

Prince’s
Tom Lewis, England, 72-68
Haraldur Magnus, Iceland, 72-70
Retief Goosen, South Africa, 71-72

Notts (Hollinwell)
Ashton Turner, England, 72-66
Oliver Wilson, England, 72-69
Rhys Enoch, Wales, 72-70

St. Annes Old Links
James Robinson, England, 67-65
Marcus Armitage, England, 65-69
Jack Senior, England, 68-66

The Renaissance Club
Sam Locke (a), Scotland, 69-66
Grant Forrest, Scotland, 67-69
Thomas Curtis, England, 68-69

The post Open Championship 2018: Retief Goosen earns a trip to Carnoustie the hard way, one of 12 to get in via Final Qualifying appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Ian Poulter earned a return to the scene of his most memorable major performance as the final 15 spots for the 146^th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale were filled Tuesday.

The European Ryder Cup legend clinched one of three spots in final qualifying at his home club of Woburn after carding rounds of 70-68. It sets up a return to Royal Birkdale where he finished second to Padraig Harrington in 2008.

“Job done,” the 12-time European Tour winner told TheOpen.com. “Obviously going back to Birkdale after what happened in 2008 is special. You know I thought I had that 15-foot putt (on the 72nd) to maybe win or get in a play-off and then my Irish friend (Padraig Harrington) decided to go bananas on the last five holes.

Job done today @WoburnGC securing a spot in @TheOpen. Woburn was magnificent as always. @JackSinghBrar is going to be a star. Well played. pic.twitter.com/UdhKA8Qmnn

— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) July 4, 2017

“It was a great week, my best in a major. All my family and friends were there to see me play and after I finished Katie told me she was pregnant with Lily, so it was happy days that week.”

Poulter now has the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open starting at Portstewart GC Thursday and next week’s Scottish Open at Dundonald to prepare for the year’s third big.

“I would say Birkdale is my favourite Open venue because of 2008 and I’m looking forward to competing there. It’s going to be a busy run. It will be my fourth tournament in a row but it’s about managing my energy levels. But as soon as I get there I will be pumped for the week.”

India’s Shiv Kapur, who made a special 4167-mile round trip from his home in Delhi to play, took the top spot at Woburn with scores of 71 and 65 for an -8, 136 total. England’s Toby Tree earned a start in the biggest championship of his career by tying Poulter for second on six-under-par.

Congrats to @shivkapur62 & @TobiasTree, who join @IanJamesPoulter in qualifying from Woburn for #TheOpen ? pic.twitter.com/Ht7GTGVZkb

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 4, 2017

Sweden’s Jens Dantorp left Woburn frustrated after receiving a two-shot penalty for having 15 clubs in his bag on his opening hole of the day before going on to finish one shot outside the qualifiers, TheOpen.com reported.

Elsewhere, Matthew Southgate won his final qualifying event for the third time in four years and clinched back-to-back wins at Royal Cinque Ports at Deal.

The Englishman won at Sunningdale in 20145 before going on to miss the cut at Royal Liverpool. He failed to qualify for St Andrews the following year and instead spent the week of The Open in recovery from a testicular cancer operation.

Royal Cinque Ports confirmed qualifiers – @SouthgateMatt, @RobDin29 & @AustinConnelly9 – congratulations guys. See you at Royal Birkdale ? pic.twitter.com/PA0qmCk7kD

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 4, 2017

Southgate made an emotional return to The Open with a T12 finish at Royal Troon last year, just missing out on an automatic trip to Royal Birkdale.

Visit TheOpen.com for the full list of qualifying results from Gailes Links, Hillside, Notts Hollinwell, Royal Cinque Ports and Woburn.

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