England’s Richard Mansell equalled the course record in the Genesis Scottish Open to book his place at the 152nd Open Championship.
Mansell was one over par after two holes of his final round at the Renaissance Club, but then made four birdies on the front nine and six more in a back nine of 29 to return a superb 61, matching the mark set by Ben An last year.
That took Mansell to 13 under par and ensured he claimed the final one of the three places available at Royal Troon behind compatriot Aaron Rai and Sweden’s Alex Noren.
Mansell lines up his last shot on the 18th hole
Rai finished 14 under following a closing 63, with Noren on 13 under after a 65.
“I’ve been struggling with my game recently,” Mansell admitted.
“I was chatting for about three hours with my manager last night, and I was just kind of moaning a little bit as golfers do about where my game is at and stuff like that.
“I said the way I’m playing I can’t shoot a low round at the moment. He was like, well, it’s got 65 all over it. I said, how about 61 and I birdied the last to shoot 61.
“It’s just made me realise even more that this game is just insane and you’re never as far away as you think you are. I’m hoping that can kind of kick-start my season now and it’s brilliant to get into The Open.”
Rai insisted he had not been thinking about securing an Open place after starting the day 10 shots off the lead, adding: “Obviously I knew there were three spots available at the start of the week.
“I was aware of it yesterday and I also felt I was so far away going into today and I didn’t feel very good with where my game was at. It didn’t really cross my mind until the end of the round.”
What’s next?
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