Dustin Johnson tees up Dundonald date in bid to qualify for The Open

Dustin Johnson, the 2016 US Open champion, will be the star attraction at Dundonald Links next Tuesday in one of four Final Qualifying events for The 154th Open.

The former world No 1 has played in the Claret Jug event every single year since making his debut in 2009 at Turnberry. He finished joint-second behind Darren Clarke at Royal St George’s two years later and has recorded five top tens.

Johnson, who has made the cut in all three majors so far this year, now finds himself having to try and qualify for next month’s edition at Royal Birkdale after slipping to 210th in the Official World Golf Rankings since he left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf.

Dustin Johnson pictured in action in last week’s 126th US Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club | Andrew Redington/Getty Images

The 42-year-old will be aiming to follow in Lee Westwood’s footsteps after he won last year’s 36-hole shoot-out at Dundonald Links to play at Royal Portrush.

Johnson’s presence at the Ayrshire venue, where he will be out in the same group as Scottish amateur Connor Graham and Spanish star Angel Hidalgo, is sure to attract another huge crowd.

Fans heading to the event will also get a glimpse of Ryder Cowan, who underlined his potential when finishing as co leading amateur with world No 1 Jackson Koivun in the 126th US Open at Shinnecock Hills on Sunday.

As reported by The Scotsman last week, Westwood is not trying to qualify for The Open on this occasion due to next week being the US Senior Open.

Others joining Johnson at Dundonald Links include Mexican Carlos Ortiz, a PGA Tour winner who also now plays on the LIV Golf League, and two-time DP World Tour winner Grant Forrest.

Other Scots among the hopefuls are Craig Howie, who shot a course-record 61 at Craigielaw to win his Regional Qualifier, and 2018 Silver Medal winner Sam Locke.

California-based Niall Shiels Donegan, Scotland’s top-ranked amateur, is in the field as well along with reigning Scottish Amateur champion Chris Somers. So, too, are Cameron Adam and Daniel Young, both of whom teed up in last year’s The Open at Royal Portrush.

Daniel Young played in last year’s The Open at Royal Portrush after coming through Final Qualifying at Dundonald Links and is aiming to repeat the feat in his bid to tee up at Royal Birkdale next month | Tom Russo | The Scotsman

With just five spots up for grabs at each venue, Burnham & Berrow, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire are the other courses hosting Final Qualifiers on the same day.

PGA Tour winner Sahith Theegala spearheads the field at Burnham & Berrow, where the hopefuls are also set to include Marc Leishman, who lost out to Zach Johnson in a play-off at St Andrews in 2015, and LIV Golf star Caleb Surratt.

Amateur Luke Poulter, Ian’s son and sitting inside the top ten in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is trying to qualify at Royal Cinque Ports, where Thomas Detry, Peter Uihlen and Dean Burmester are other star attractions.

Sergio Garcia, meanwhile, will have the crowds out once again at West Lancashire along with fellow Masters champion Danny Willett and Matt Wallace.