MELBOURNE, 21 January 2004 — Adam Le Vesconte and Brendan Jones shot three-under-par rounds of 69 yesterday to share the first day lead in the Australasian leg of international qualifying for this year’s British Open.
The two Australians ended the day a shot clear of Euan Walters with a group of four players a further stroke behind. The 36-hole qualifying tournament, one of five taking place around the world between January and June, finishes at Kingston Heath today.
The top four finishers in Australia will qualify to play in the British Open at Royal Troon, Scotland from July 15-18.
Four players — South Africans James Kingston, Grant Muller, Louis Oosthuizen and Tjaart van der Walt — claimed Open spots at the inaugural international qualifier, which took place at the Atlantic Beach Golf Club in Cape Town this month.
The third qualifier will be held at the Saujana Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 30-31 with the final two scheduled for June 28 at Sunningdale Golf Club, England and at Congressional Country Club, Maryland in the United States.
International qualifying tournaments have been introduced by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club to make it more convenient and less expensive for overseas-based players to qualify for the world’s oldest major championship.
Els Plans to Reduce Jet Time With Majors in Mind
In London, globe-trotting Ernie Els, who covers more miles in his private jet than any of his main rivals, admits he needs to cut back on his playing schedule.
The world number three, who won his first title of the year at the Hawaiian Open on Sunday, is taking this week off and is considering missing next month’s WGC-Accenture Match Play — the first big event of 2004.
“I’m not playing a tournament this week, so I’ll have a few days off and then I’ll think about making my way down to Thailand for the (European Tour’s)” Els said.
