Silver linings for Thriston Lawrence, others at The Open

Thriston Lawrence almost had his Masters invitation thrown again in his face Sunday night at Royal Troon.

After discovering a pot bunker off the tee on the par-4 ending gap, Lawrence bought aggressive and despatched his strategy shot proper into the bunker’s sodded face. His ball ricocheted again, virtually hitting the burly South African however as a substitute coming to relaxation on turf behind the entice.

His ball having traveled negative-2 yards, Lawrence instantly discovered himself grinding to punch his ticket to Augusta Nationwide subsequent spring. At 6 beneath, Lawrence was solo fourth and a shot forward of Russell Henley. With the highest 4 and ties being exempt into the next 12 months’s Masters, bogey or higher would get the job completed for Lawrence; a double or worse, nevertheless, wouldn’t.

Lawrence did one higher than crucial, hitting his third shot 148 yards to eight toes and rolling within the par save to solidify his solo-fourth displaying, his finest main end in six profession begins but additionally his first top-40.

“I didn’t really put myself beneath the strain that some persons are presupposed to,” Lawrence mentioned. “I simply checked out it as a standard Sunday of a standard golf event. Sure, it’s The Open, it’s a larger stage. However being in that second, I felt so calm. It felt like a standard Sunday, me attempting to win a golf event, attempting to be inventive, and I managed to perform that. So very pleased with myself.”

Billy Horschel, No. 62 on this planet rankings coming into the week, additionally clinched his 2025 Masters berth with a T-2, as did No. 67 Justin Rose, the opposite runner-up to Xander Schauffele this week.

The highest 10 and ties earned their approach again for the 2025 Open at Royal Portrush, a listing that included a couple of gamers who weren’t but formally within the subject: Henley (fifth), Shane Lowry (sixth), Sungjae Im (T-7), Adam Scott (T-10), Dan Brown (T-10) and Matthew Jordan (T-10). Jordan, a qualifier final 12 months for Royal Liverpool, now has back-to-back Open top-10s.