History made as 20-year-old Estonian holes out in playoff for Open berth

Estonia is far from a golf mecca. The Baltic nation of about 1.37 million people didn’t get its first golf course until 1993, and now, according to the Estonian Golf Association, boasts just 10 clubs nationwide. There are only two Estonian pros listed in the Official World Golf Ranking, neither in the top 2,000, and 14 countrymen – a little improvement – ranked in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Plenty of history to be made, you could say.

And on Tuesday evening just outside of Liverpool, Richard Teder, just 20 years old but already his country’s best player, proved himself worthy of writing, at least to this date, Estonia’s greatest chapter.

With just two swings in a 4-for-2 playoff at West Lancashire Golf Club, one of four final-qualifying sites for The Open, Teder, who is ranked 91st in the world, became the first Estonian player to ever qualify for golf’s oldest major championship. After pounding a 340-yard drive on the first extra hole, Teder holed his next shot from the fairway for a walk-off eagle and promptly leaped into the arms of his caddie, who then lifted the lanky, wavy-haired Teder over his shoulder, knocking off the looper’s hat, and briefly started to carry him toward the green.

If he could, he’d probably carry him all the way to Northern Ireland, where in a couple weeks Teder, with all of Estonia proverbially on his back, will look to achieve more Estonian firsts as he tees it up among the world’s best at Royal Portrush.

History, as it usual does, required the dramatic. Teder, who was fresh off advancing to the quarterfinals of the British Amateur, was two shots clear of the playoff after birdieing the par-3 17th hole, but a closing double bogey dropped him to 5 under, where he finished tied for fourth with Finland’s Oliver Lindell, Ireland’s Ronan Mullarney and England’s Sam Bairstow. Following Teder’s heroics, Lindell would earn the final qualifying spot, as he and Teder joined three other Open qualifiers – medalist Lucas Herbert of Australia; China’s Sampson Zheng, who played his college golf at Cal; and George Bloor, a 29-year-old Englishman who currently plays on the HotelPlanner Tour and has won orders of merit on both the Clutch Pro Tour and Portugal Tour.

Herbert was one of three current LIV Golf players to advance through final qualifying; Lee Westwood and Dean Burmester also did so as medalists at their respective sites.

The 52-year-old Westwood, a charter LIV member whose last major start came at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, pushed to 8 under through 11 holes of his afternoon round at Dundonald Links in Scotland before finishing 36 holes at 7 under, a shot clear of the field. Westwood owns five career top-4 finishes in Opens, including a T-4 at Royal Portrush in 2019, when he was a shot off the lead through 36 holes before ultimately finishing a distant nine shots behind winner Shane Lowry. He’s currently No. 42 in LIV’s season-long points race, having notched just one top-10 finish in eight events this season.

Scotland’s Daniel Young (-6), Spain’s Angel Hidalgo (-6) and Sweden’s Jesper Sandborg (-5) also advanced out of Dundonald. Young and Sandborg will be making their major debuts while Hidalgo qualified for last year’s Open before missing the cut at Royal Troon.

LIV’s David Puig led at the halfway point at Royal Cinque Ports in England before falling down the leaderboard with a second-round 78. Florida senior Luke Poulter, son of Ian Poulter, who was also competing Tuesday, backed up with a 76 to miss by three shots. Gators alum John Axelsen of Denmark grabbed the last spot behind Burmester, who closed in 64; DP World Tour player Nathan Kimsey; England’s Curtis Knipes, who also qualified for the 2019 Open at Portrush; and amateur Seb Cave, a potential GB&I Walker Cupper this year who has two years left of college golf at Charlotte.

A past Walker Cupper and Charlotte alum, John Gough, was among those missing by a shot, along with Florida State junior Tyler Weaver and PGA Tour Americas player Maxwell Moldovan, who qualified for his fourth straight U.S. Open last month.

Play ended later at the third England site, Burnham and Berrow, where 44-year-old South African Justin Walters medaled at 9 under, a shot ahead of PGA Tour winner Harry Hall, the highest-ranked player in final qualifying at No. 73 in the world, and last year’s British Amateur champ Jacob Skov Olesen. Two Englishmen, amateur Frazer Jones and OJ Farrell, also advanced to their first major championship.

For Walters, it’s his first Open since his debut in 2014.

“Very long time ago,” Walters told the R&A’s radio broadcast. “I have a frame of it in my bedroom, and I stared at it all night two nights ago…”

He then got too choked up to continue.

Tears, hole-outs, history. Again, Open final qualifying had it all.

Here is the full list of qualifiers, by site:

BURNHAM AND BERROW – Justin Walters, Jacob Skov Olesen, Harry Hall, a-Frazer Jones, OJ Farrell

ROYAL CINQUE PORTS – Dean Burmester, Curtis Knipes, Nathan Kimsey, a-Sebastian Cave, John Axelsen

DUNDONALD LINKS – Lee Westwood, Daniel Young, Angel Hidalgo, Jesper Sandborg, a-Connor Graham

WEST LANCASHIRE – Lucas Herbert, Sampson Zheng, George Bloor, a-Richard Teder, Oliver Lindell