Stephanie Meadow secures place in Women’s British Open

The whirlwind start to Stephanie Meadow's professional career shows no sign of abating, after the 22-year-old Northern Ireland golfer – less than a month into life on tour – secured her place in this week's British Women's Open at Royal Birkdale.

Having finished third on her professional debut in last month’s US Women’s Open and third in her Ladies European Tour debut in the European Masters which finished on Sunday, Meadow continued her seamless move into the paid ranks with a third-place finish in Final Qualifying at Southport and Ainsdale to secure her ticket into the British Open.

"It's been quite the ride," said Meadow of her blistering start to life as a professional, following on from her Curtis Cup appearance in June. Meadow continued the momentum from her finishing round of 63 at the Buckinghamshire with another impressive outing on the Lancashire coast.

When she holed out with a 54-degree wedge from 70 yards on the fourth hole for birdie, Meadow felt it would be her day. “I hit it into rough and had to chip out and then made it from the fairway. That set the tone,” she said.

Meadow birdied five of her opening seven holes, rolling in birdie putts on the second, third, holing out on the fourth, and getting the putter going again on the fifth and seventh to turn in 33. She recovered from a bogey on the 10th to bounce back with her sixth birdie on the 11th and added another birdie on the 13th before dropping a shot on the 15th on her way to a five-under-par 69.

Wales' Becky Brewerton and Thailand's Nontaya Srisawang shared first place with 67s to lead the 15 qualifiers. Carlow's Rebecca Codd failed to qualify after a 78.