Luke Donald gains place in Open through US 

Tour's Travelers Championship

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE R and A

Cromwell, Connecticut: Brian Harman, Graham DeLaet, Carl Pettersson and Luke Donald qualified for the 144^TH Open at St Andrews through the Open Qualifying Series at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on Sunday

American Harman finished on 15-under-par for the championship to finish one shot behind Bubba Watson and Paul Casey, who went into a two-hole play-off, which was won by Watson. Canadian DeLaet finished on 14-under-par and Sweden’s Pettersson was one shot further back.

Donald finished on 11-under-par, one behind Zach Johnson who is already exempt for The Open, and alongside Americans Bo Van Pelt and Mark Wilson.

 The Englishman secured the final qualifying place by virtue of his higher position in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Harman turned in one-over-par and enjoyed an eventful back nine, trading four birdies and two bogeys for a one-under-par 69. The 28-year-old former Walker Cup player from Georgia won the 2014 John Deere Classic to qualify for The Open at Royal Liverpool where he finished tied 26th.

Despite getting off to a bad start with a double bogey at the 1st hole and finishing with a bogey, DeLaet produced four birdies to finish with a one-under-par 69. The 33-year-old, who played in the 2013 Presidents Cup, will make his third consecutive appearance at The Open.

Pettersson carded five birdies with just one dropped shot for a four-under-par 66 to finish on 13-under-par overall. 

The 37-year-old from Gothenburg is a five-time winner on the US PGA Tour and has one European Tour victory. He will make his eighth appearance in The Open, with his best finish coming at Royal Liverpool in 2006 where he was tied eighth, and his first at St Andrews.

Former world number one Donald was concerned that a bogey at the last hole would prove costly but the 37-year-old had earlier notched up three birdies and an eagle on the par five 13th to post a four-under-par 66 and finish on 11-under-par for the championship. The Englishman has made 14 appearances in The Open with his best finishes of tied fifth coming at Turnberry in 2009 and Royal Lytham and St Annes in 2012.

Key quotes:
Brian Harman

“I'm excited about playing at The Open. I have been thinking about it for a long time and really trying to look at a way to get in there. This one burns a little bit but this definitely helps the sting.

“The Open is one of my favourite championships that I have ever played in. I love that style of golf and I will be really excited to get over there.

Graham DeLaet

“I’m really happy. It’s an awesome Championship and it’s at the home of golf so I can still leave here with a smile on my face.

“I was standing on the 18th tee knowing that I had the third spot in The Open. When I hit my tee shot in the bunker all I could think was, ‘I really hope this doesn’t cost me my spot’. But it ended up being just enough.”

Carl Pettersson

"I have played St Andrews before but I've never played there in an Open, so I'm looking forward to that. I'm thrilled. My kids are here this week and I was talking to them earlier saying I would love to take them over to Scotland if I got in. They are 11 and 8 so I think it will be a really cool experience for them.

"Any time you get to play an Open Championship it's special. I have played in several of them but being at St Andrews, the home of golf, it's going to be a really special week."

Luke Donald

"The Claret Jug brings up a lot of great memories, watching The Open as a kid, and obviously some memories playing it as a professional. It’s the Major I would love to win the most, coming from the UK.

"Overall it was a good solid week. I played some good golf and really minimised any mistakes. There are a lot of good positives coming from these last four days."

Charley Hoffmann, Robert Streb, Kevin Kisner and Steven Bowditch secured places in The Open as non-exempt players in the top 20 of the US PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup points list on completion of the Travelers Championship.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Sweden’s Alex Noren also secured places as non-exempt players in the top 20 of the European Tour Race to Dubai rankings after the conclusion of the BMW International Open.

The Open Qualifying Series continues this week with the Greenbrier Classic on the US PGA Tour and the Alstom Open de France on the European Tour.

For scoring and more information visit 

TheOpen.com