Luke Donald seals spot at the Open

• Luke Donald qualifies for the Open at St Andrews
• Takes the last of four spots on offer at Travelers Championship
• Brian Harman, Graham DeLaet and Carl Pettersson also qualify

Luke Donald will be turning out at the 144th Open Championship at St Andrews in less than three weeks after snatching one of the four qualifying spots on offer at the Travelers Championship.

The Englishman’s place at the tournament had been in some doubt after falling down to No.68 in the world rankings, but his tied seventh finish at TPC River Highlands – his joint best of the PGA Tour season along with the Honda Classic – made sure he took one of the places on offer along with Brian Harman, Graham DeLaet and Carl Pettersson.

“It’s the major I would love to win the most” – Luke Donald

“The Claret Jug brings up a lot of great memories,” said Luke Donald. “Watching the Open as a kid, and obviously some memories playing it as a professional. It’s the major I would love to win the most, coming from the UK.

“Overall it was a good solid week. I played some good golf and really minimised any mistakes. There are a lot of good positives coming from these last four days.”

Donald also tweeted: “Really enjoyed my week at the @TravelersChamp, fun course and great support. Grabbing a spot at @TheOpen a nice bonus #KeepGettingBetter.”

However, he didn’t feel he was home and dry after a bogey at the 18th and took to Instagram to explain why he didn’t look too happy while holding up the Open flag and standing alongside the Claret Jug.

Donald has only missed one Open Championship since 2002, with a record of two top fives, one top 20 and seven missed cuts in his 14 appearances. In three of those at St Andrews, his results have been a missed cut in 2000, T52 in 2005 and T11 in 2010.

The five-time PGA Tour winner will now have a week off before jetting over to Scotland as he prepares to tee it up at the Scottish Open – with no pressure now on the former world No.1 to claim one of the three qualifying spots on offer at Gullane.

Luke Donald :: Open contender?

Now he’s qualified, can Luke Donald contend at St Andrews? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.