Two East Lancs golfers among big names at Open Qualifying

The field, which includes a major champion and a number of tour event winners, will be playing in Final Qualifying at West Lancashire Golf Club for a spot at Royal Troon next month.

One East Lancs golfer will also be teeing it up in Scotland hoping to land a spot at the major.

The 36-hole qualifying event at the historic course in Crosby, Merseyside, is just an hour’s drive from Blackburn and gives golf fans the chance to watch some of the sport’s biggest names up close.

Sergio Garcia return to West Lancs as he aims to qualify for The Open (Image: PA)

The event takes place on Tuesday, July 2, with the players competing for just four spots at The 152nd Open Championship this year being played at Royal Troon in Scotland.

Among the field is Waterfoot-raised Marcus Armitage, who has one European Tour title to his name, with ‘The Bullet’ aiming to make his fourth appearance at golf’s oldest major.

He will be playing alongside Australian Marc Leishman, a six-time PGA Tour winner who has three top 10s at The Open in the past 10 years.

Longridge's Mark Young is hoping for a return to the Open

The biggest name at West Lancs is 2017 Masters champion and twice Open runner-up Sergio Garcia, who will be playing alongside English pro Sam Bairstow.

Other notable players teeing it up at West Lancs include American Jason Kokrak, South Africans Hennie du Plessis and Oliver Bekker, Englishmen Sam Horsfield and Richard Mansell, Mexican Carlos Ortiz, Colombian Sebastian Munoz, and Zimbabwean Kieran Vincent.

Also in the field are a host of amateurs and club pros who qualified through Open Qualifying earlier this month, including Lytham-based Phil Kelly.

What awaits those who qualify - the first tee at Troon (Image: PA)

Fleetwood’s Jack Senior is in the field at Scotland’s Dundonald Links, where Longridge’s Mark Young carries the hopes of East Lancashire after a fine performance in Regional Qualifying at Hesketh, as he looks to make his second Open appearance after playing at St Andrew's in 2015.

Other big names at Dundonald include Patrick Rodgers, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Peter Uihlein, Robert Rock, Tom McKibbin, and young English amateur Kris Kim.

Waterfoot-raised Marcus Armitage is aiming to qualify for The Open (Image: PA) The two other Final Qualifying events take place at Royal Cinque Ports in Kent, and Burnham & Berrow in Somerset.

Burnham & Berrow sees former-US Open champion Justin Rose and Abraham Ancer as the biggest names, while headlining at RCP are Alex Noren, Graeme McDowell, and Thomas Detry.

Final Qualifying events are open for the public to attend, with play at West Lancs commencing at 7am and likely to go on until at least 7pm.