Atwal, Randhawa, Johl for British Open qualifiers

NEW DELHI, JUNE 29. Arjun Atwal, currently placed fifth on the Davidoff Tour Order of Merit, will lead a three-pronged Indian assault at the final qualifying tournament of the British Open golf championship from July 15 to 16. The qualifying tournaments will be played at Fairhaven, Hillside, Southport and Ainsdale and St. Annes Old Links.

The stylish Atwal, who is trying to qualify for the fifth straight year, has been impressive this season. A struggling Jyoti Randhawa, who had qualified for the 2000 British Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, and Amandeep Johl, make up the Indian challenge.

Nineteen players on the Asian PGA Davidoff Tour will vie for the prized spots at the British Open, which will be staged at Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club from July 19 to 22.

Among the hopefuls are six players who finished in the top 10 of the last season's Order of Merit, including Asian stalwarts Randhawa and Chinese Taipei's Yeh Wei-tze.

Yeh, Randhawa and England's Simon Dyson had earned their British Open debuts last summer after successfully negotiating final qualifying and joined Myanmar's Kyi Hla Han. The Myanmarese was exempted into the main field as the 1999 Asian number one, on the hallowed turf of St. Andrews.

This year, the 23-year-old Dyson has received an exemption to Royal Lytham by virtue of winning the Davidoff Tour Order of Merit last year after a stunning rookie year that saw him lift three titles. He has since joined the more lucrative European PGA this season.

lThe Asian PGA hopefuls: Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Yeh Wei-tze (Tpe), Craig Kamps (RSA), Arjun Atwal (Ind), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Des Terblanche (RSA), Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn), Nico Van Rensburg (RSA), Ted Purdy (US), Wayne Smith (Aus), Amandeep Johl (Ind), Scott Taylor (US) Simon Yates (Sco), Justin Hobday (RSA), Gilberto Morales (Ven), Rafael Ponce (Ecu), Aaron Meeks (US), Ross Bain (Sco), Dominique Boulet (HK).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Living in the past
Next     : The Proletarian justifies confidence