Joe Dean of England delivered the goods Monday morning at Royal Birkdale by winning the inaugural ‘Last Chance Qualifier’ with a 2-under 68 to become the last man into the field for the British Open.
Dean’s Road to the British Open
Dean was clinging to a one-shot lead when he hit into a pot bunker on the 18th hole and splashed out to 3 feet. The massive grandstands on both sides of the green were about two-thirds full, and they offered applause for the winning putt that Dean would love to hear on the weekend.
At least the 32-year-old Dean, who once delivered groceries to pay the bills, now has a chance. He finished one shot ahead of Andrew Wilson. Aldrich Potgieter, who made bogey on the final hole to finish two shots behind, remains the first alternate.
The R&A created this final qualifier to give 12 players a last chance to make the field, and to give the spectators at Royal Birkdale something more to watch than players chipping and putting during a long practice round.
‘To see the amount of people out here today, it’s been great,’ said Dean, who will be playing in his third British Open, his first since Royal Troon in 2024. ‘We stopped at a local Premier Inn and we had a few people ask if we were playing in the qualifier today, which obviously you don’t usually get. Yeah, I think it has drawn a lot more people.’
Dean lost out on a 3-for-1 qualifier at West Lancashire two weeks ago and was invited to compete. It paid off most handsomely on the back nine. He was tied for the lead when he hit 6-iron for his second shot on the par-5 14th hole that rode the wind and bounced along the firm turf to 4 feet.
‘Probably the best 6-iron I’ve ever hit,’ Dean said.
Dean is No. 268 in the world and currently 67th in the Race to Dubai on the European tour. This was a good addition to the schedule as the final major of the year. Plus, he’s getting married on Tuesday.
‘It was cheaper,’ he said, referring to the unusual day of the week to exchange vows.
Dean also is the only player at Royal Birkdale to spend time delivering groceries, a part-time job he started during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and kept for nearly four years to help fund his career when he didn’t have a card and was mostly playing one-day events.
‘I had a great time doing it,’ Dean said. ‘Met some really good friends and grounded me really well.’
Original reporting: KSAT Sports (San Antonio) — read the source article.
