{"id":652461,"date":"2026-06-22T16:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/652461\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T16:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:34:10","slug":"ex-premier-league-stars-stage-audacious-attempt-to-qualify-for-the-open-championship-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/652461\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Premier League stars stage audacious attempt to qualify for The Open Championship today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A pair of former Premier League footballers are aiming to take the next step towards qualifying for The Open Championship on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Regional qualifying for the year&#8217;s final major is being held across 16 courses in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jimmy Bullard plays a shot during the British Masters Pro-Am\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/jimmy-bullard-tees-off-17th-1090206049.jpg\" data-caption=\"Jimmy Bullard is one of two former Premier League stars taking part in regional qualifying\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/jimmy-bullard-tees-off-17th-1090206049.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Jimmy Bullard is one of two former Premier League stars taking part in regional qualifyingCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>Golfers are competing to reach final qualifying, which will be staged at four courses on Tuesday, June 30.<\/p>\n<p>Places in the 156-player field at Royal Birkdale will be on offer ahead of the 154th <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/open-championship\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Open<\/a> between July 16 and 19.<\/p>\n<p>Last year&#8217;s tournament saw 20 players earn a spot through final qualifying.<\/p>\n<p>Those included former world No.1 <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/who\/lee-westwood\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lee Westwood<\/a> and current <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/pga-tour\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PGA Tour<\/a> star Harry Hall.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE GOLF NEWSPitch to putter<\/p>\n<p>Among those attempting to advance to final qualifying are ex-footballers Jimmy Bullard and Peter Odemwingie.<\/p>\n<p>Bullard, who is a scratch golfer, has previously played in events on the PGA EuroTour Pro in the past.<\/p>\n<p>The former Wigan Athletic, <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/sport\/football\/team\/113208\/fulham\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fulham<\/a> and Hull City midfielder is also <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/3506464\/premier-league-hero-golf-hole-in-one-jimmy-bullard\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">part of the Golf Life YouTube channel<\/a> alongside former Soccer AM star Tubes.<\/p>\n<p>His ability on the course even saw Bullard <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/golf\/3076821\/tiger-woods-champions-tour-jimmy-bullard\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tipped to play on the PGA Tour Champions<\/a> by Colin Montgomerie last year.<\/p>\n<p>Bullard will be contesting regional qualifying at Rochester &amp; Cobham Park in Kent.<\/p>\n<p>As for Odemwingie, the retired striker took part in regional qualifying last year alongside Bullard.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Peter Odemwingie plays a shot on the Clutch Pro Tour\" height=\"679\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/peter-odemwingie-nigeria-plays-tee-1090206118.jpg\" data-caption=\"Odemwingie is a PGA professional and provides golf lessons after retiring from football in 2019\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/peter-odemwingie-nigeria-plays-tee-1090206118.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Odemwingie is a PGA professional and provides golf lessons after retiring from football in 2019Credit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>However, both players failed to advance to final qualifying for a place at Royal Portrush.<\/p>\n<p>Odemwingie scored 37 goals in 129 <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/premier-league\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Premier League<\/a> appearances for West Brom, Stoke City and Cardiff City.<\/p>\n<p>Since retiring in 2019, the former Nigeria international has become a PGA professional and now provides golf lessons in Birmingham.<\/p>\n<p>The 44-year-old begins his quest for the Open at Enville, with his tee time scheduled for 11.26am.<\/p>\n<p>Bullard and Odemwingie will not be the only former Premier League stars on the course on Monday, though.<\/p>\n<p>Ex-Newcastle United right-back Ryan Taylor is caddying for his 14-year-old son Henri at Hesketh.<\/p>\n<p>Read More on talkSPORT<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jimmy Bullard lines up a putt at the Legends Tour Trophy\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/jimmy-bullard-ines-putt-day-1090206055.jpg\" data-caption=\"Bullard will be looking to earn a place in next week's final qualifying for a spot at Royal Birkdale\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/jimmy-bullard-ines-putt-day-1090206055.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Bullard will be looking to earn a place in next week&#8217;s final qualifying for a spot at Royal BirkdaleCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>The teenage amateur began his regional qualifying round at 9.57am.<\/p>\n<p>Next week&#8217;s final qualifying will be held at Burnham &amp; Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pair of former Premier League footballers are aiming to take the next step towards qualifying for The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":652462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[219457,11163,5904,24815,48597,219455,221,192927,219456,101,82107,676,2626,219454,219453,56,54,55,29406,39894],"class_list":["post-652461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-cardiff-city","tag-fulham","tag-golf","tag-hull-city","tag-jimmy-bullard","tag-peter-odemwingie","tag-premier-league","tag-royal-birkdale","tag-ryan-taylor","tag-sports","tag-stoke-city","tag-the-open","tag-the-open-championship","tag-the-open-qualifying","tag-the-open-regional-qualifying","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-west-bromwich-albion","tag-wigan-athletic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}