Australians Cameron Smith and Ashley Hall lost a playoff Sunday at the Emirates Australian Open, but the pair -- along with fellow Aussie Aaron Baddeley -- still punched their tickets to The Open in July.
All three earned their places at Royal Birkdale via The Open Qualifying Series, which has 44 spots up for grabs in the months leading up to the year's third major. The next two entries will be available at the SMBC Singapore Open, which will be played at Sentosa Golf Club from Jan. 19-22.
Smith, 23, has never played in The Open, which will be contested July 19-23. He has teed it up in four majors, with a T-4 at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay being his best finish.
Hall, 33, qualified for his second Open and just his second major championship, the first coming in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Baddeley, the 35-year-old four-time winner on the PGA Tour, claimed his spot in the 146th Open Championship by virtue of a higher world ranking (149th) than those players he finished tied for fourth with at the Australian Open. Ryan Fox (158th), Rod Pampling (166th), Geoff Ogilvy (232nd) and Jason Scrivener (322nd) all would have made the field at Royal Birkdale had their world rankings been the highest among the group that finished T-4.
