Made In HimmerLand

Nacho Elvira, Kalle Samooja and Marc Warren qualified for The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool following their performances at the Made In HimmerLand event in Denmark.

Elvira (above) finished tied for first place on 13-under-par with the already-exempt Rasmus Højgaard, who delighted the home fans by prevailing in a six-hole play-off with the Spaniard to lift his fourth title on the DP World Tour.

“It’s a bit sour right now,” said Elvira after the play-off defeat, “but it’s sweet knowing I’ll be playing my first major.

“I’ve played at Hoylake before and I loved it so I couldn’t be more happy.”

Would-be Open debutant Elvira will be joined by Samooja and Warren, who were in a tie for fourth place on 11-under-par alongside the exempt Alexander Björk and Robert MacIntyre.

The Finn will also make his debut in golf’s original championship, while Warren returns to play in The Open for the first time since 2016 when it was held at Royal Troon.

World number 443 Warren said: “I’ve not had many great results recently, so to just pluck one out of the bag and take one of the last spots in The Open is an amazing achievement.

“Going out there today that was the main thing; it wasn’t even a finish, it was just trying to qualify for The Open.”

Samooja added: “It’s been one of my goals this year.

“I’ve never played Hoylake before, but I’ve watched it on TV enough so I know quite a few holes.”

The Open takes place at Royal Liverpool between 20-23 July.