Six South Africans made the cut at the Final Stage of European Tour Qualifying School, including 21 year old Zander Lombard.
The youngster from Pretoria had five top-10s on the Sunshine Tour this year, including tied-seventh at the Tshwane Open and runner up at the Joburg Open.
His performance at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club secured a place at The Open Championship, where he made the cut and was tied 66th.
He was unable to secure a European Tour victory like his childhood friends Brandon Stone and Haydn Porteous at the start of 2016, and turned to the six-round marathon of Qualifying School.
Lombard made the four-round cut at PGA Catalunya Resort in a tie for 20th place, having carded rounds of 67, 67, 74, 72.
The world number 354 was four under par for the tournament, and joined on that number by countrymen Erik van Rooyen and Jaco Ahlers.
One shot back was Keith Horne, followed by Dean Burmester on two under par. Jacques Blaauw snuck into the final two rounds with a 72 on Tuesday to share 52nd place on one under par.
England’s Nathan Kimsey led the tournament after he shot 63 on Tuesday, but victory is not the goal this week. The top 25 and ties will secure playing rights for the 2017 European Tour.
‘That’s the lowest I’ve ever shot – I think I’ve had a 63 before, but nothing like that kind of score in a week as big as this, so it was definitely the right time to do it with all this at stake,’ Kimsey explained.
