European golfing favourites Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter vying with Oli Sullivan and emerging pros in Open final qualifying

Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter are the headline-grabbing names hoping to negotiate 36 holes of final qualifying to reach Royal Portrush from July 17-20.

They are just three of 288 players chasing 20 spots across four links courses on Tuesday.

Those three heavyweights of European golf have been to multiple Opens, but after moving to the LIV Tour have made their chances of getting back there that little bit harder.

They are also coming up against hungry young professionals and amateurs hoping to get a first shot at the big time - people like Oli Sullivan of the Phoenix club in Rotherham.

Sullivan was one of the dozens who successfully negotiated regional qualifying last Monday, the 25-year-old taking one of the seven spots available at Lindrick, where he is a member. Currently a top-15 player on the Clutch Tour, this is the third time he has got to the final stage of qualifying.

“I’m hoping for third time lucky,” he told The Yorkshire Post as he drove up to Dundonald Links in Irvine on Scotland’s west coast.

“I’ve not done as well as I’d have liked the last two times, but I feel as though my game is in a lot better place.”

His previous two attempts came a lot closer to home at Hollinwell in Nottinghamshire, but he has opted for the five-hour trek to within a Byson DeChambeau tee shot of Royal Troon because of familiarity, instead of going to West Lancs as a lot of his fellow Yorkshiremen have.

“I’ve played here a few times before on the 2020protour, Scotland Pro-Am, so it made sense to come and play a course I knew rather than one I’m not familiar with,” says Sullivan, who will be joined at Dundonald by Nick Marsh (Huddersfield), Julian Wood (Hallamshire), Callum Tarren (Rockliffe Hall) and Martin Brown (Pike Hills).

Course knowledge helped him at Lindrick, especially as the wind got up. “I tried everything not to overcomplicate things last week,” says Sullivan. “No caddy, I just went out with my trolley, I had a game plan and if I could execute my shots I knew it would be good enough. I just didn’t want to clutter my mind.

“I do have a caddy with me this week, two rounds in one day is a long day, there’ll be people watching, other players will have caddies, so it’s as much for a bit of company.”

Five to advance from a field of 72 makes for long odds, especially when the likes of Westwood, Jamie Donaldson and Adrian Meronk are in the field at Dundonald.

So how does Sullivan - a player hoping to one day reach the Challenge Tour or even the DP World Tour through qualifying school - approach the challenge?

“Just go up there and play risk-free golf,” says Sullivan, who has already seen off one Westwood in Lee’s son Sam at Lindrick last week.

“There’s no pressure, you need to hole a few long putts, a couple of chip-ins. If it’s your week it will be and if not, just put it down to more experience gained. I don’t put pressure on myself, just go out there and do the best I can.

“Yes there are some big names there - Westwood, Meronk, Alex Noren - but, you never know, they’re at qualifying for a reason because they’ve not got in the Open yet, so...

“You’ve got to dream about playing in the Open, there would be no point being here otherwise. It’s the best I’ve felt going into it, but can you produce two rounds in one day?”

Bailey Gill (Worksop) finished one shot better than Sullivan at Lindrick and will attempt to qualify from Royal Cinque Ports on the south coast. Gareth Davies (Abbeydale) is at Burnham and Berrow.

Over at West Lancs, DP World Tour players Sam Bairstow, Alex Fitzpatrick and Joe Dean are joined by Oliver White (Pannal), Michael Hay (Hunley Hall) and amateurs Habib Khan (Huddersfield) and Huey Cunningham (Ilkley).