Open starts at stake in Japan this weekend for Australasians

Anthony Quayle – file photo

Queensland based Anthony Quayle has a share of the lead at the halfway mark of the Japan Tour’s Mizuno Open at the JFE Setonaikai Golf Club, Okayama, a second round of 70 leaving him in a share of the lead with Ryuichi Oiwa.

The leading pair are ahead by one over Japan’s Shotaro Wada and two ahead of Quayle’s fellow Gold Coast based, Brad Kennedy, who last week finished 4^th in a Japan Tour event.

Importantly for those in this weekend’s field and not already exempt into this year’s Open Championship, the leading four players inside the top twelve at the completion of this week’s event and not already qualified to play the Open at St Andrews this week will earn a ticket to the field in July.

So Quayle, Kennedy, New Zealand’s Michael Hendry (11^th this week), David Bransdon (22^nd) and to a lesser extent Brendan Jones (42^nd) have a chance to this week to be on the way to St Andrews for the historic 150th staging of the Open Championship.