Alex Wrigley overcame a windswept, wet Final Qualifying day at Fairmont St Andrews to achieve his dream of qualifying for The 150th Open Championship.
Wrigley, who was a reserve from Regional Qualifying, struck the final putt of regulation play to force a play-off and held his nerve to hole what would have been the biggest putt of his career so far.
The 32-year-old Hartlepool native is married to Swedish LET star Johanna Gustavsson, who is herself exempt for the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield, meaning that husband and wife will both be playing in Opens this summer.
“I remember watching the 2000 Open,” Wrigley said. “I remember watching David Duval win in 2001, and then I went to The Open at Royal St George’s (in 2003) when Ben Curtis won and then when Todd Hamilton won the following year.
“It’s so surreal to be there myself. Tiger (Woods) is in the field and a lot of people I look up to. It’s going to be so much fun to share it with my family and all my friends. Those tickets will be getting used quite a lot I think.
“Like everybody, when I practise I always have putts to win The Open. I was trying to keep my mind quiet because there was a lot of emotion coming up, a lot of memories of The Open. I didn’t know where I was and I just tried to clear my mind.”
“I rang Johanna and she said ‘what’s happened?’, and I just said ‘you’re not the only person playing in The Open this year!'”
