This year there will be eight amateurs teeing it up in The Open at Royal St. Georges.
The effects of the Coronavirus pandemic mean that the amateur field competing this year has a slightly different look to it than normal. The Open has allowed amateurs scheduled to play in the cancelled 2020 tournament to retain their qualification to this year. Therefore, some amateurs qualified through their successes back in 2019, such as Cole Hammer who won the 2019 Mark H. McCormack Medal. Unfortunately travel restrictions and isolation rules in England have also meant some amateurs have had to decline their entry.
The first goal for all the amateurs will be to try to make the cut and enjoy two more days of golf over the weekend. However, I am sure all of them will also be having dreams of competing against the world’s best golfers for the Claret Jug and not just the Silver Medal.
Below we will take a brief look at all the amateurs in The Open field and how they qualified.
Sam Bairstow
Sam Bairstow qualified after making it through Final Qualifying at St. Annes Old Links, finishing runner-up with a score of 12 under par. Bairstow also put in a good performance in this year’s Amateur Championships at Nairn, losing to eventual winner Laird Shepherd. This ended a successful few weeks in Scotland for Bairstow, following two top-10 finishes at the St. Andrews Links Trophy and Scottish Men’s Open Championship. Bairstow clearly knows his way around tough links golf courses and has been in great form over the last few months. He will be hoping to carry this form through into the toughest field of his career so far.
Christoffer Bring
Danish golfer Christoffer Bring qualified by winning last month’s 2021 European Amateur tournament with an impressive 20 under par score around Medoc Resort in France. Bring played for Continental Europe against GB&I in 2015 and will be hoping that he can soon emulate the success of his former teammates Viktor Hovland and Guido Migliozzi.
Abel Gallegos
Winner of the 2019 Latin America Amateur Championship, Abel Gallegos qualified for The Open aged just 17 years old. This win also earned the young Argentinian entry into The Masters in 2020. He struggled with a score of 16 over par, but competing in such a huge tournament as a teenager will have been an incredible experience. Still only 19 and unlikely to have much experience playing on links golf courses, The Open will be a tough test for Gallegos.
Cole Hammer
Cole Hammer qualified for The Open as the recipient of the 2019 Mark H. McCormack Medal for the world’s number one ranking amateur golfer. Hammer, still only 21 years old, has already been a promising young talent in America for a number of years. In 2015 he became the third youngest player in history to play in the U.S. Open aged just 15 years old. He has now played in three U.S. Open’s, missing the cut on each occasion, but this will be the first time playing in The Open. Despite not yet making his mark in a Professional Tour event, he will still go into The Open as one of the amateurs to watch.
Yuxin Lin
Yuxin Lin qualified for The Open as the winner of the 2019 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, also giving him entry into The Masters last year. Lin also won the same tournament in 2017, meaning The Open will now be his fourth appearance in a Major. The young left-hander is yet to make a cut, but he will be hoping to use his past experience to help him this time around.
Joe Long
Securing his place in The Open as winner of the 2020 Amateur Championship, Joe Long will be playing in his third Major tournament this year. His win at the Amateur Championship gave him entry into The Masters and the U.S. Open, where he missed the cut on both occasions. Long will be hoping that playing in England and using his previous experience on links courses during his amateur career can help him make the full four days this time.
Matthias Schmid
Schmid qualified as the winner of the 2020 European Amateur tournament, becoming only the second golfer to retain their title after he won in 2019. A big-hitting German golfer, Schmid has missed the cut on his two previous Major outings, The Open in 2019 and this year’s U.S. Open. However, a T-14 finish at the BMW International Championship earlier this year shows that he can compete in a strong professional field. This performance, combined with his experience of playing in two previous Majors, probably makes Schmid a slight favourite for the Silver Medal.
Laird Shepherd
Laird Shepherd qualified for The Open in spectacular fashion after what was probably the greatest ever comeback win in Amateur Championship history. Being 8 down with 19 holes to play, then dormie 4 down, he could have been forgiven for throwing the towel in. However, he completed the comeback to win the 2021 Amateur Championship and he will now also be competing in next year’s U.S. Open and Masters. Despite lacking experience in Professional Tour events, Royal St. George’s is a golf course Shepherd knows really well. If he can not let the occasion get the better of him, there is no reason why he couldn’t make the weekend.