Revamp for Open qualifying

Open Championship qualifying is to change with the introduction of a new international qualifying series, the Royal and Ancient has announced.

The Open Qualifying Series replaces International Final Qualifying and will use existing global Tour events. It will involve 10 existing worldwide Tour events offering Open qualification in addition to the four UK final qualifying events for next year’s Open at Hoylake.

“We have been thinking about some changes for a long time,” said the R&A chief executive, Peter Dawson.