The next Open Championship will be July 17-20 at Royal Portrush. It has officially revealed its final field of competitors, and now it will run the gauntlet with 156 players set to wrestle for victory. Aldrich Potgieter and Brian Campbell join this elite company. Their inclusion isn’t a mystery, as they qualified by having remarkable first wins in their respective last PGA Tour starts.
Aldrich Potgieter won the Rocket Classic just two weeks ago, coming into that week ranked No. 123 in the world. Now, he is poised to make his The Open debut. His surprise victory has dramatically improved his stock. To top it all off, it won him an invitation to compete in one of golf’s most prestigious tournaments. Similarly, Brian Campbell earned his position by winning the John Deere Classic last Sunday, moving up from No. 115 in the world rankings.
To complete the field for The Open, the organizers used this week’s world rankings to form an alternate list. In addition, Potgieter and Campbell’s advances, a number of players recently earned their ways into the tournament. Joining the prospective USA squad are Nico Echavarria, Michael Kim, Bud Cauley and Davis Thompson. Perhaps most interestingly, Thompson won the last scientific female slot in a photo finish over Si Woo Kim.
One hundred fifty players qualified or exempted into The Open. This year’s inclusion of even more players underscores the event’s ultra-competitiveness. The mix of veteran standouts and newbies such as Potgieter and Campbell should set up a compelling tournament with plenty of storylines.
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