Corkman David Howard, diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was seven years old, has earned a fairytale ticket to the Open Championship after coming through final qualifying on Tuesday.
Howard has defied the odds to carve out a career as a full-time golfer.
Now, the former mechanic has scaled new heights, holding his nerve to seal a golden ticket to next month’s tournament at Royal Birkdale.
It’s a sensational achievement by the 27-year-old who only really started to seriously focus on golf in his late teens. Howard is 1,456th in the world amateur rankings.
Four final qualifying events took place, with over 70 players in each field competing across 36 holes for five Open spots at each event, 20 spots in total.
Howard – an ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland – was on the Dundonald Links course.
Having carded a first-round 69 to give himself a strong platform, the Fota Island man produced the goods in the decisive second round, surviving a bogey on the 16th to finish on four-under overall, which was enough to finish in a tie for second.
That sends Howard through to the prestigious tournament which begins on 16 July.
Last Saturday another Irishman, Stuart Grehan, won the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool to secure qualification for the Open Championship, and earn an invite to the 2027 Masters and US Open.
Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia (above) missed out on a place after coming up short at West Lancashire as 20 players qualified for the tournament out of 288 hopefuls across four venues.
The 2017 Masters champion put himself in a strong position to make the 154th edition of the Championship when he shot 68 from his opening 18 holes but his second round proved the complete opposite after he carded a three-over 75 and finished well behind the five qualifying spots on offer at that venue.
Danny Willett and Matt Wallace also missed out on qualification at West Lancs while Sam Bairstow finished top on 10 under and qualified alongside Kazuma Kobori, Jose Luis Ballester, Tiger Christensen and Matthew Jordan.
At Dundonald Links, Scotland’s Jack McDonald qualified top of the list on five under par and will be joined by Matthew Baldwin, Marcus Plunkett and amateurs Howard and Nevill Ruiter.
American James Nicholas finished first at Burnham & Berrow and qualified alongside compatriots Caleb Surratt and Austen Truslow, England’s Tom Sloman and Spanish amateur Alejandro De Castro Piera.
Matthew Southgate, MJ Daffue, Baard Bjoernevik Skogen, Peter Uihlein and Antoine Rozner were the five to qualify from Royal Cinque Ports.
Additional reporting: PA