The 153rd Open

Australian Ryan Peake qualified for The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush after securing his maiden professional victory at the New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport.

The 31-year-old will now make his major championship debut in July after holding his nerve to roll in a 10-foot par putt to win by one from runners-up Kazuki Higa, Ian Snyman and Jack Thompson.

“I’ve just changed my life," said Peake.

“I always knew I could do it; it was just a matter of time of when I was going to do it.”

Three more places in the field for The 153rd Open were secured by Dylan Naidoo, Marco Penge and Darren Fichardt at the Investec South African Open Championship.

The final round at Durban Country Club was ultimately cancelled due to flooding, with the tournament reduced to 54 holes. 

Yet it was possible to stage a play-off on the 18th to determine the champion after Naidoo and Laurie Canter, who was already exempt for Royal Portrush, had finished round three tied at the top on 14-under.

Naidoo won the play-off at the first time of asking with a birdie three, securing victory in his home open, a maiden DP World Tour title and a first appearance in The Open.

Penge took third place on 13-under and can look forward to his third visit to golf's original Championship in four years, while Fichardt, who eagled the final hole of his third round on Saturday, earned the final qualifying spot on 12-under. The veteran South African tied for fourth with compatriots Christiaan Maas and Branden Grace, but Fichardt qualified courtesy of his superior world ranking.

Meanwhile, Justin Suh also made it to Portrush after winning the 118th Visa Open de Argentina on the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday.