R&A chief executive Peter Dawson believes a new international qualifying series for the Open Championship will be more “rigorous” than International Final Qualifying which it replaces.
The Open Qualifying Series will comprise 14 events in nine countries on the European Tour, PGA Tour, Japan Golf Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia, offering players the opportunity to qualify for golf’s oldest major championship, which takes place at Hoylake from July 17-20 next year.
Nine qualifying places will be available on both the European and PGA Tour via the Irish Open, Alstom Open de France and Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open and AT&T National, Greenbrier Classic and John Deere Classic respectively.
The new system replaces International Final Qualifying (IFQ), which was introduced in 2004 and involved 36-hole qualifying events in Australasia, Asia, Africa, America and Europe.
“We have been thinking about some changes for a long time,” Dawson told Press Association Sport. “We recognise that players have increasingly busy schedules and that qualifying events are an addition to the calendar. If we can use Tour events instead that’s a bonus.
“The fact we have 72-hole events makes it more rigorous and I think that’s important. In Asia, Australia and South Africa IFQ was very popular and we got a good stream of players.
“However, their performance in the Open has been disappointing, very few have made the cut. We are trying to make it more rigorous.
“We are still committed to reaching players from all around the world. We are quite satisfied that everyone who was eligible to play in IFQ will be able to play in these events. In terms of the European and American events, we think this will give much more build up to the Open in terms of who is going to be qualifying.”
Final qualifying has also been changed for 2014. Three places from each of four courses remain available, but for the first time those courses will be in different parts of the country rather than all near the Open venue.
The venues are Glasgow-Gailes Links, Hillside, Woburn and Royal Cinque Ports and Dawson said: “It’s more convenient for people and reduces their costs.
“Qualifying is targeted to produce a total of 44 players for the Open, about 28 per cent of the field which is quite a healthy ratio.”
The Open Qualifying Series will start with the Emirates Australian Open on November 28 and places will also be available at the Mizuno Open on the Japan Golf Tour, The Open Qualifying Series (Thailand) and The Open Qualifying Series (South Africa).
On the European Tour, three places from each of the three events will be given to players, not otherwise exempt, who finish in the top 10.
On the PGA Tour, four places are available for players not otherwise exempt who finish in the top 12 in the AT&T National and Greenbrier Classic. Only one place is up for grabs from the John Deere Classic as that event only finishes four days before the Open starts.