Goydos, Overton, Love lead qualifiers for British Open

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Paul Goydos and Jeff Overton lead a group of 14 players who survived a 36-hole day in the Final International Qualifier for this year's British Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

A total of 94 players teed it up on two different courses in suburban Detroit, Mich., in hopes of gaining one of the final available spots for the 137th edition of the world's oldest tournament.

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Jeff Overton

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Among the bigger names to make it through were Davis Love III, Rich Beem, Germany's Alex Cejka, John Rollins, Tim Petrovic and Scott McCarron.

Goydos, a playoff runner-up to Spain's Sergio Garcia at THE PLAYERS Championship, posted rounds of 65-66 to finish at 13-under par and gain medalist honors at Dearborn Country Club. The net result for Goydos, who turned 44 just 10 days ago, will be his first start in golf's longest running major championship in his 16th year on the PGA TOUR.

"This was my No. 1 goal for the year," he said. "If nothing else happened this year, I wanted to play in the British Open. A lot of other good things have happened on top of that, but this really has been my No. 1 goal."

Goydos achieved his goal thanks to solid ball-striking, good putting -- that resulted in several birdie streaks -- and making the most of his opportunities on the tree-lined, Donald Ross-designed layout that measured only 6,832 yards.

"That was as low as it was going to be," he said. "I got everything out of it that I possibly could have. I scored well. It wasn't impressive, but I scored really well."

PGA TOUR Rookie Michael Letzig (67-66) was next in line at Dearborn, followed by Doug LaBelle (68-66), who will also be making his first appearance in the British Open.

"It's the oldest championship to be played, and it's steeped in tradition," said the former Michigan resident, who has played in just one major championship thus far (2003 U.S. Open). "I played on the Palmer Cup team in college, and we were able to play the Old Course at St. Andrews. To play in the Open will be a tremendous honor."

Overton ran away from the field of 48 at TPC Michigan, shooting scores of 63-67 for a 14-under 130 total, six shots better than TOUR veteran Rollins. Tim Petrovic and Matt Kuchar finished at 7-under and gained spots in next month's tournament.

"It's a major championship, and I'm at a point in my career that I can't afford to skip majors," said Petrovic, who also qualified in 2002 and 2005. "It's the oldest championship, and it's where golf was born."

Petrovic, playing in the first group off the tee, posted a 5-under 67 in the morning round and was at 10-under through 27 holes before a back nine 39 put him in the clubhouse with a 7-under 137 score.

"On the back nine, there were a couple of pins that I didn't aim at, and so I made a few more pars," said Petrovic, who tied Overton for second place at last year's Wyndham Championship. "I played a little less aggressive on the back, and my score showed it. There are a lot of holes where you can get in some trouble, and I just didn't want to make a mental error and make a big number."

Germany's Cejka is the only non-American to garner one of the 14 berths on the final day. His rounds of 68-69 at TPC Michigan were good enough to qualify him without having to face a playoff.

At TPC Michigan, five players at 5-under par needed a playoff to determine one final position. Michigan's Tom Gillis, who has no status on any Tour this year, came out the winner and will make his second start in the Open Championship.

At Dearborn, Love, Rich Beem, Kevin Stadler, Craig Barlow and Iain Steel were forced into a playoff to eliminate one player after matching 9-under 135 totals.

Stadler and Love advanced with pars on the second hole. For Love, his tap-in par put him into the Open for the 22nd consecutive year.

"It's easily my favorite tournament," he said. "The way they set the courses up. It's such a tradition. It's a great tournament and a great feeling to be able to go back. The Masters and the Open Championship are probably recognized more around the world than any others. THE PLAYERS Championship is catching on, but when Greg Norman and others around the world were watching, they were watching the Open Championship."

Love, winner of 19 PGA TOUR titles, was forced into the qualifying tournament after a sub-par year in 2007 and off-season ankle surgery. His run of 70 consecutive majors dating back to 1991 came to an end in the spring when he didn't make into the field for The Masters tournament.

"It's very strange for all of us to be out here, but you've got to deal with it," said Love. "You don't play well. You get hurt. You've got to go through it."

Love was the last man on the course and needed a tough 6-foot par putt on the final hole of the day to force the playoff.

"I three-putted that green this morning," he said. "That putt broke a foot from only 5-feet out. I saw all those guys staring at me so I knew something was up. It's not the situation you want to be in."

The playoff ended when Steel, a native of Malaysia who grew up in Scotland, three-putted the third extra hole, leaving Barlow and Beem with cross-Atlantic travel plans to make.

Steel had tied the Dearborn Country Club course record with a 9-under 63 in the afternoon.

"I saw myself shooting 7, 8 or 9-under today, just not all at once," said Steel, who has played on the Asian Tour for the past three years."