Philip Reid

Baltray

Life hasn't exactly been a bed of roses for Gary Cullen since he moved from the amateur to the professional ranks, but, in the British Open regional qualifying at Co Louth yesterday, there were signs that things may be changing for the better.

Indeed, the 6ft 5in golfer, who looks more as if he belongs in the back row of a rugby pack rather than finessing shots on a links, produced a wonderfully crafted four-under-par 68 to head the field.

In so doing, he booked a place - at Royal Cinque Ports - in the final qualifying, held over two rounds on Sunday and Monday, for the chance to join the likes of Tiger Woods and Ernie Els in next week's British Open Championship in Sandwich.

"Look, everyone wants to play in the British Open. It's a dream you have, from the time you first pick up a golf club," said Cullen, a former amateur Irish international who is attached to Beaverstown.

These days, his golf is played on the Challenge Tour, the European Tour's secondary circuit, but he hadn't played a serious round of golf since the St Omer Open in France three weeks ago until topping the qualifying here yesterday.

The reason for the 27-year-old's inactivity was that his confidence had reached a low ebb.

"I'd been struggling with my game, and I had to try to sort things out," admitted Cullen.

So it was that he worked with Stephen Rayfus, the club professional at Balcarrick. A new routine, used for the first time in the regional qualifying, was adopted and the results were immediate as he started his round with three successive birdies. Although he dropped a shot on the fifth, he bounced back with a birdie on the sixth and then played par golf until he hit a four-iron approach to the par-three 17th and holed the 20-footer for birdie.

For a player who has been tormented by back and ankle injuries at various stages of his career, both amateur and in his fledgling professional life, this is the sort of performance that can create a new start.

"Things have to start falling my way some time," he remarked.

There was the bonus of €700 top prize for Cullen, but the greater significance is that he will play the final qualifying, alongside tour players Nicolas Colsaerts and Miles Tunnicliff.

The second final qualifying place was claimed by amateur Colm Moriarty, who has Walker Cup ambitions.

On Sunday, the Athlone man returned from Holland where he was part of the Irish team that finished sixth in the European Championships. Although he felt tired from playing eight rounds in four days with no caddies on a course which Moriarty described as "the hilliest you'd ever see", he got in nine holes of practice at Baltray.

Yesterday, Moriarty played error-free golf - never missing a fairway and never missing a green - in shooting a one-under-par 71, comprising 17 pars and a lone birdie on the second hole. It is the second straight year that Moriarty has reached qualifying.

"If I get into the Open, it's certainly not going to do my Walker Cup ambitions any harm," he conceded.

Moriarty will play his final qualifying at Littlestone.

With four places in final qualifying on offer, the two remaining spots were decided in a three-way play-off after Danny Sugrue (Killarney), Padraig Dooley (Cork) and Geoff Loughrey (Bangor) all recorded 72s. Sugrue claimed the third place with a par at the first play-off hole (he will play at North Foreland), while the fourth place was claimed by Loughrey, who will play at Prince's.

There were also four alternate places available at Baltray, with good prospects for each of getting into the final qualifying. The first alternate place was taken by Dooley, the second by Stuart Paul (Tandragee), the third by another Walker Cup hopeful, Justin Kehoe (Birr), and the fourth by John Sugrue (Tralee).