By Tony Webeck

The Australian representation at the 150th Open at St Andrews has received a boost with both Anthony Quayle and Brad Kennedy qualifying at the Gateway To The Open Mizuno Open in Japan.

The 54-hole leader, securing his major championship debut was a significant consolation prize for Quayle who let a four-shot lead slip on the final day, ultimately losing to Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent at the second playoff hole.

Vincent shot seven-under 65 on the final day to reel in Quayle who could only manage an even-par 72 as another breakthrough Japan Golf Tour title slipped through his fingers.

The Queensland PGA champion in January, Quayle had a putt to win on the first playoff hole but when his par putt slid by the hole on their return trip down the par-5 18th Vincent was able to swoop in and steal victory.

Kennedy shot 70 in the final round to snare outright third position, joining Vincent, Quayle and the Philippines’ Justin Delos Santos in booking a coveted place at The Open.

Quayle struggled to hide his disappointment as he recorded his third top-three finish in Japan but took some solace from securing a spot at St Andrews.

“The 150th Open at St Andrews is probably about as exciting and historic as it gets and as good as it gets for your first major. I am pretty excited,” said Quayle.

“To experience the atmosphere and vibe around the Championship, to see some of the players I have idolised my whole life will be really exciting.”

Kennedy is yet to make the cut in three previous Open appearances in 2011, 2012 and 2021 and is yet to play an Open at the Home of Golf.

“This is two years in a row that I have qualified now and the 150th Open will be my fourth time playing in the Championship,” said Kennedy.

“Playing The Open on the Old Course at St Andrews is one of those golfing moments you always dream about.

“It’s going to be exciting; the crowd is going to be unbelievable.”

The addition of Quayle and Kennedy takes the Aussie contingent at The Open to 11, joining Cameron Smith, Adam Scott, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, Min Woo Lee, Jason Scrivener, Matt Griffin, Dimi Papadatos and Jed Morgan as exempt players.

Kiwi Ryan Fox is also now exempt after he finished second to Frenchman Victor Perez at the DP World Tour’s Dutch Open.

With a three-shot lead standing on the 18th tee, Fox appeared destined for his second DP World Tour title of the year but a double-bogey to finish and Perez’s birdie bomb at 17 suddenly saw the pair tied at 13-under par.

Perez needed to hole a birdie putt from 20 feet to extend the playoff past the first hole and then snatched victory with a 40-foot birdie putt at the fourth extra hole.

“I don’t know what to say at the end there, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it,” said Fox, who could do little but watch as Perez drained putt after putt in the playoff.

“I pushed my drive slightly (on 18) but I still felt like it was in the middle of the fairway. I heard it was one roll from staying up (out of the water) and then I probably win the tournament.

“In the playoff I felt like I’d won it at least twice and then Victor holed a couple of amazing putts.

“Nice consolation to get The Open and the US Open out of it as well.

“The Open was a big goal at the start of the year,” Fox added. “I love St Andrews. I played my first Open there in 2015 so I really wanted to get back there for this year.

“I’ve done that now and getting to play the US Open in a few weeks will be really nice.”

Fox wasn’t the only Kiwi with something to celebrate, Steven Alker extending his extraordinary run on the Champions Tour to claim the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Michigan.

Four back at the start of the final round, Alker had nine birdies and a lone bogey to shoot eight-under 63 and win by three strokes from Canadian Stephen Ames (70), Mark Hensby (67) the best of the Aussies in a tie for eighth.

Co-leader after day one, Cameron Davis could only produce a two-over 72 on a difficult final day at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Texas, falling two spots into a share of seventh as Sam Burns edged Scottie Scheffler at the first playoff hole.

Results

Japan Golf Tour Gateway To The Open Mizuno Open JFE Setonaikai Golf Club, Okayama Winner Scott Vincent     69-72-70-65—276           ¥16m Won on the second hole of sudden death playoff 2            Anthony Quayle              65-70-69-72—276           ¥8m 3            Brad Kennedy    67-70-71-70—278           ¥5,440,000 T6          Michael Hendry 70-69-71-71—281           ¥2,554,000 T32        David Bransdon 70-70-72-74—286           ¥474,000 T36        Brendan Jones  70-73-72-72—287           ¥376,000 MC        Adam Bland       72-73—145 MC        Andrew Evans   73-73—146 MC        Matthew Griffin              72-77—149 MC        Dylan Perry        73-78—151

DP World Tour Dutch Open Bernardus Golf, Cromvoirt, Netherlands Winner Victor Perez       67-70-69-69—275           €297,500 Won on the fourth hole of sudden death playoff 2            Ryan Fox             70-67-70-68—275           €192,500 T14        Scott Hend         70-69-68-76—283           €23,725 MC        Jason Scrivener 75-69—144 MC        Maverick Antcliff             74-71—145 MC        Zach Murray      72-75—147

Champions Tour KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship Harbor Shores Resort, Benton Harbor, Michigan Winner Steven Alker      64-72-69-63—268           T8          Mark Hensby     67-75-67-67—276           T39        Rod Pampling    69-68-75-73—285           T50        David McKenzie 71-74-70-72—287           T50        Stephen Leaney 70-75-74-68—287           T55        Peter Fowler      70-72-72-74—288           T55        Michael Campbell           71-70-74-73—288           MC        Stuart Appleby  73-73—146 MC        Richard Green   72-74—146 MC        John Senden      70-76—146 MC        Robert Allenby  79-76—155 WD        Andre Stolz

PGA TOUR Charles Schwab Challenge Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas Winner Sam Burns          71-68-67-65—271           Won on the first hole of sudden death playoff T7          Cam Davis          66-68-69-72—275           T12        Matt Jones         70-66-71-69—276           T23        Danny Lee          73-64-77-65—279 T48        Lucas Herbert    71-70-70-72—283 MC        Min Woo Lee     71-71—142

LPGA Tour Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Shadow Creek, Las Vegas, Nevada Round 1 Minjee Lee def. Youngin Chun 6&5 Su Oh lost to Hye-Jin Choi 5&4 Hannah Green def. Haeji Kang 2&1 Round 2 Su Oh def. Lizette Salas 4&3        Hannah Green lost to Jenny Shin 5&3     Minjee Lee lost to Brittany Altomare 2&1 Round 3 Hannah Green tied Sophia Popov Minjee Lee lost to Caroline Masson 2&1 Su Oh def. Aditi Ashok 1 up

Korn Ferry Tour NV5 Invitational The Glen Club, Glenview, Illinois Winner Harry Hall           65-67-65-65—262 Won on the third hole of sudden death playoff T13        Aaron Baddeley 65-71-65-69—270 T21        Nick Voke           65-70-73-64—272 T56        Rhein Gibson     69-69-68-73—279 T59        Harrison Endycott           71-67-68-74—280 MC        Curtis Luck         70-70—140 MC        Brett Drewitt     66-77—143 MC        Ryan Ruffels      72-71—143

Challenge Tour Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A Newmachar Golf Club, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Winner Javier Sainz        72-65-71-65—273           €43,271.32 T10        Josh Geary         71-71-67-69—278           €5,341.30 T60        Dimitrios Papadatos       70-70-77-72—289           €824.86 MC        Daniel Hillier      78-66—144 MC        Jarryd Felton      70-76—146 MC        Deyen Lawson   72-75—147 MC        Blake Windred  71-76—147

Ladies European Tour The Mithra Belgian Ladies Open Naxhelet Golf Club, Wanze, Belgium Winner Linn Grant          66-68-67—201  €30,000 T29        Whitney Hillier  69-72-73—214  €1,968

PGA TOUR-Latinoamerica Jalisco Open GDL Atlas Country Club, Guadalajara, Mexico Winner José de Jesús Rodríguez 66-67-72-64—269 T36        Tim Stewart       68-69-73-72—282

Epson Tour Inova Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship Mission Inn Resort and Club, Howey-In-The-Hills, Florida Winner Gina Kim             66-69-73—208  $US30,000 T7          Robyn Choi        70-70-74—214  $5,700 T13        Gabriela Ruffels 74-70-73—217  $3,020 T13        Sarah Jane Smith             72-70-75—217 $3,020   T21        Karis Davidson  76-69-73—218  $2,260 T21        Grace Kim           75-70-73—218  $2,260 T21        Amelia Garvey   72-71-75—218  $2,260 T47        Soo Jin Lee         72-74-75—221  $942 MC        Julienne Soo      80-70—150 MC        Hira Naveed       78-76—154 MC        Stephanie Na     75-80—155