Hatton, Colsaerts, Manassero and Ramsay grab Open spots
Monday 11 July 2016 15:36, UK
Tyrrell Hatton, Nicolas Colsaerts, Matteo Manassero and Richie Ramsay secured the last four Open qualification spots at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
With four qualification places up for grabs at Castle Stuart, Colsaerts and Ramsay launched final-round attacks to guarantee their places at The 145th Open at Royal Troon.
It was Hatton who grabbed the first qualification space, holing a testing putt on the final hole to get within one of leader and playing partner Alex Noren.
Hatton had been in contention for much of the tournament, and despite several chances on the final day in Inverness, lacklustre form with his putter meant he missed several close-range birdie opportunities.
The 23-year-old Englishman is still searching for his maiden European Tour victory, but three birdies in a blemish-free round meant he finished solo second for the first time this season.
In significantly better weather, Colsaerts finished with a six-under-par back nine of 30 to find himself in a tie for third at 12 under par for the tournament. The Belgian had one of the lowest rounds of the day and holed over 110 feet of putts in just four holes as he went eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie between the 12th and 16th.
The 2012 Ryder Cup player has struggled over the past few years, but seems to have come back in to form in recent months, and with a final-hole birdie he guaranteed back-to-back 66s and his first Open place since 2013.
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Colsaerts, who finished tied for seventh in the 2012 Open, is hoping to get his revenge on Royal Troon next week as he missed the cut there back in 2004.
He said: "It's been a while. Troon is the first Open I played in in 2004 so I feel like I have a little bit of a revenge to take from 2004 but anytime you get a spot in the Open you're quite excited"
It was an agonising day of near-misses for Manassero, but it was still the young Italian's first top-10 finish since appearing at the same event in 2014.
After bursting on to the scene when he won his first European Tour event at just 17, the now 23-year-old has tumbled down the rankings to 569 in the world.
Manassero began the day two shots behind Noren, but plenty of lip-outs for birdie meant 12 pars in a row left him four off the pace. He managed back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th, but a blemish free 70 was not enough to challenge Noren for the title.
The four-time European Tour winner has competed in The Open five times, including a mixed bag of two top-20 finishes and three missed cuts, and he will be hoping to carry on his good form from this week when he tees up at the Ayrshire links on Thursday.
Occupying the final spot is Scotland's Ramsay, who made his own noteworthy move during the final round with four-birdies in a row during his front nine to put him to 10 under par by the sixth.
The 33-year-old had just one bogey in his five-under-par 67, and after rolling in his par-putt on the last booked the final qualification spot for The Open next week at 11 under par.
"I had a putt on the last and I just thought if I could roll that in I could maybe put a bit of pressure [on], but the great thing was all of these holes on the back nine I was inside 15 foot and I had chances. I played to win today.
"Home ground, great golf course, striking it well - you can't get better than it and I just loved it out there. I really thought I had a good chance to win but I'm immensely proud of finishing high."
"I've played it [The Open] three times before and I don't think I've done myself justice but this time we've got a little daughter to take along so I think she'll enjoy her first major. I think its going to be more a treat for her than me."
