History made as 20-year-old Estonian holes out in playoff for Open berth
Plenty of history to be made, you could say.
And on Tuesday evening just outside of Liverpool, 20-year-old Richard Teder proved himself worthy of writing, at least to this date, Estonia's greatest chapter.
With just two swings in a 4-for-2 playoff at West Lancashire Golf Club, one of four final-qualifying sites for The Open, Teder became the first Estonian player to ever qualify for golf's oldest major championship. Teder, who is ranked 91st in the world, holed out for eagle from the fairway on the first extra hole and promptly leaped into the arms of his caddie, who then lifted the lanky, wavy-haired Teder over his shoulder and briefly started to carry him toward the green.
If could, he'd probably carry him all the way to Northern Ireland, where in a couple weeks Teder, with all of Estonia proverbially on his back, will look to achieve more Estonian firsts as he tees it up among the world's best at Royal Portrush.
There are just 10 golf courses in Estonia, the oldest opening in 1993.
There are two Estonian pros ranked in OWGR – and 14 in WAGR.
Among them, 20yo Richard Teder, who just made history in becoming the first of his countrymen to qualify for #TheOpen.pic.twitter.com/dRXcrdEbOn
History, of course, didn't come easily. Teder was two shots clear of the playoff after birdieing the par-3 17th hole, but a closing double bogey dropped him to 5 under, where he finished tied for fourth with Finland's Oliver Lindell, Ireland's Ronan Mullarney and England's Sam Bairstow. Following Teder's walk-off heroics, Lindell would earn the final qualifying spot, as he and Teder joined three other Open qualifiers – medalist Lucas Herbert of Australia; China's Sampson Zheng, who played his college golf at Cal; and George Bloor, a 29-year-old Englishman who currently plays on the HotelPlanner Tour and has won orders of merit on both the Clutch Pro Tour and Portugal Tour.
Herbert was one of three current LIV players to advance through final qualifying; Lee Westwood and Dean Burmester also did so as medalists at their respective sites.
The 52-year-old Westwood, a charter LIV Golf member whose last major start came at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, pushed to 8 under through 11 holes of his afternoon round at Dundonald Links in Scotland before finishing 36 holes at 7 under, a shot clear of the field. Westwood owns five career top-4 finishes in Opens, including a T-4 at Royal Portrush in 2019, when he was a shot off the lead through 36 holes before ultimately finishing a distant nine shots behind winner Shane Lowry. He's currently No. 42 in LIV's season-long points race, having notched just one top-10 finish in eight events this season.
Scotland's Daniel Young (-6), Spain's Angel Hidalgo (-6) and Sweden's Jesper Sandborg (-5) also advanced out of Dundonald. Young and Sandborg will be making their major debuts while Hidalgo qualified for last year's Open before missing the cut at Royal Troon.
Here is the full list of qualifiers, by site:
BURNHAM AND BERROW – Justin Walters, Jacob Skov Olesen, Harry Hall, a-Frazer Jones, OJ Farrell
ROYAL CINQUE PORTS – Dean Burmester, Curtis Knipes, Nathan Kimsey, a-Sebastian Cave, John Axelsen
DUNDONALD LINKS – Lee Westwood, Daniel Young, Angel Hidalgo, Jesper Sandborg, a-Connor Graham
WEST LANCASHIRE – Lucas Herbert, Sampson Zheng, George Bloor, a-Richard Teder, Oliver Lindell
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