Saltman loses Open berth on final hole

LLOYD Saltman was left to rue a bogey on the 18th hole at the Sentosa club in Singapore yesterday as the Craigielaw rookie narrowly missed out on an Open championship place in the Asian leg of International Final Qualifying.

The 22-year-old, who won the silver medal as the top amateur in the 2005 championship at St Andrews, closed with a two-under 70 over the Serapong course, but his three-under aggregate of 141 left him just a stroke outside the top-four finish needed to secure a trip to Royal Birkdale in July.

The par-five 18th was costly and, having stumbled to a six, Saltman just missed out on joining Lam Chi Bing, Angelo Que and Tomohiro Kondo in a play-off for the final two qualifying spots. Bing and Que emerged victorious from the shoot-out and will join Danny Chia of Malaysia and Australian Adam Blyth at Birkdale.

Ross Bain, the leading Scot at Carnoustie last year, missed out on 148 after a 72, while countryman Simon Dunn closed with a 72 and finished well down on 150. Englishman Yasin Ali, who was sharing the lead after round one, toppled out of the qualifying places with a 73 for 142, while former British Boys’ champion, Rhys Davies of Wales, also failed with a 147.