Australian Brett Rumford has joined the list of Aussies heading to Muirfield in two weeks for the Open Championship. Rumford joined Dane Thomas Bj rn, Finn Mikko Ilonen, South African Richard Sterne and Scot Marc Warren who all qualified for the Open Championship at Muirfield as the top five players, not otherwise exempt, within the top 20 of the Race to Dubai after this week s Alstom Open de France. Last week Victorian John Wade came through Local Final Qualifying at Dunbar in Scotland to earn a place at Muirfield. Marc Warren claimed the last of those five lucky spots after edging out fellow Scot Stephen Gallacher by just 888, his luck holding out after dropping five shots in four holes from the 13th in his final round at Le Golf National. A closing 73 meant Warren – who lost a play-off for the BMW PGA Championship to Matteo Manassero at Wentworth Club in May – dropped into a tie for 13th, one shot behind Gallacher in joint eighth. That lifted Warren from 21st in the Race to Dubai to 17th with 609,759, with Gallacher moving from 23rd to 18th with 608,871 a difference of just 888. Sterne, who finished second to Graeme McDowell in Paris, moved up to fourth in the Race to Dubai with Rumford, a two-time winner this season, sixth and Ilonen eighth. Thomas Bj rn, whose tied eight place in the Alstom Open de France was his fourth top ten in five events, lies in 13th place on The Race to Dubai.
Author: European Tour