Monty qualifies for the Open

Get in there, Monty!! Big Col will play at the Open for The first time since 2010 after qualifying to play at his home course at Royal Troon. And so has Original GolfPunk James Heath!

A swing reminiscent of a young Ben Moffat (GP Commercial dude)

The 53-year-old shot rounds of 66 and 71 to bag one of three places available from final qualifying at Gailes Links, Irvine. This obviously means that Monty's legion of fans will not have the pleasure of his dulcet tones in the Sky Commentary box. Everybody wins. Especially Nick Faldo who'll have even more air time to tell us how great he is, after being drafted in by Sky last week.

Monty, who made 21 straight appearances at the Open until St Andrews 2010,  finished third at Gailes behind Oskar Arvidsson of Sweden and Scott Fernandez of Spain.

This will most likely be Monty's last Open at Troon as a player and I'm having a cheeky each way bet on him to finish Top 10. Monty finished one stroke ahead of fellow Scot Jack Doherty, who finished on four under after a second-round 70.

Arvidsson, who is ranked 1,418th in the world, finished four strokes ahead of Fernandez after a blistering opening 64, with the Spaniard one ahead of Montgomerie.

And what a week for Original GolfPunk James Heath. He wins his first event in 10 years on the Challenge Tour on Sunday and now he's qualified for the Open. England's Matthew Southgate qualified first at Royal Cinque Ports, with Heath and New Zealand's Steven Alker also qualifying after tying three strokes behind on three under par.

"Thank you, I'll be here every weekend"

There was a play-off at Woborn, where Ireland's Paul Dunne led the field to finish one ahead of England's Ryan Evans on nine-under par. Robert Rock also won a play-off against fellow Englishman Aaron Rai to clinch the third qualifying spot after they tied on seven under.

Open qualifiers

Gailes Links Golf Course (Par 71)

132 - Oskar Arvidsson (Swe) 64 68

136 - Scott Fernandez (Spa) 70 66

137 - Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 66 71

Hillside (Par 72)

139 - Jack Senior (Eng) 69 70

142 - Paul Howard (Eng) 72 70, Dave Coupland (Eng) 69 73 (won play-off), Scott Arnold (Aus) 71 71, Jay Taylor (Sco) 74 68, Steven Robins (Eng, A), 69 73.

Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club (Par 71)

136 - Matthew Southgate (Eng) 70 66

139 - Steven Alker (NZ) 68 71, James Heath (Eng) 69 70

The Marquess' Course, Woburn (Par 72)

135 - Paul Dunne (Ire) 68 67

136 - Ryan Evans (Eng) 68 68

137 - Robert Rock (Eng) 71 66 (won play-off), Aaron Rai (Eng) 69 68

Related:

James Heath wins for first time in 10 years!