Indians miss British Open berth

India's hopes of making it to the British Open golf Masters were dashed as all the four contenders failed to make an impact at the International Final Qualifying-Asia at Saujana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Singapore's Mardan Mamat walked away with the top spot while the second qualifier, local lad Danny Chia became the first Malaysian to make it to the Open.

Australian Richard Moir won the last ticket as he tied with Chia at five-under 139, two shots behind Mamat.

The four Indians in the fray failed to make a mark and were left far behind. Amandeep Johl ended at one-under 143 (73, 70) after two days, while Jeev Milkha Singh (71, 73) was at par, and Rahil Gangjee (73, 74) at three-over could not put out a good performance.

Jyoti Randhawa, who made the cut to the British Open in 2004, pulled out after the first round of two-over 74.

Mamat, the joint overnight leader after a 66 yesterday carded a second round one-under-par 71 to top the qualifiers on seven-under-par 137 and earned his second appearance at The Open.

Later, Chia and Moir produced heroics of their own to earn their Major debuts on five-under-par 139.

Moir birdied the 17th and then chipped in from 40 feet for an eagle at the last hole for a 68 while Chia, playing in the last group, birdied his last two holes for an even par 72 to avoid a play-off with Chinese Taipei's Yeh Wei-tze and Australian Jason Dawes, who were tied at the fourth position.

A teary-eyed Chia said: "I don't know how to describe what I'm feeling now. I'm just so happy, I'm just speechless."

"My dream has always been to play in the Masters but to get into my first Major, it's a dream come true. I've always watched the Majors on TV, so it'll be nice to actually play in one, especially at St Andrews," he said.

The 37-year-old Mamat, who featured in the Open at Royal Troon in 1997, did not have the best of starts, dropping an early bogey on the fifth with a three-putt. But he kept his composure on the back nine, shooting three birdies against another dropped shot to earn his ticket to St Andrews, the home of golf.

"I was getting frustrated on the front nine as I was hitting the ball well but not converting the putts. I missed putts of six feet on the third and fourth holes and then three putted the fifth. But I kept reminding myself to not lose sight of St Andrews," said Mamat, who enjoyed his career best season on the Asian Tour last year by finishing 12th on the Order of Merit.