Playing in an Open Championship is a dream that just about every aspiring young golfer has, but for even the small fraction of the one percenters good enough to turn pro, it’s a dream that remains out of reach.
Ronan Mullarney is one of that small fraction who realised his childhood dream when he made it through qualifying and took his place in the field for the 150th Open at St Andrews back in 2022. The dream ended prematurely with a missed cut on the Friday, but after getting a taste of major championship action, it only served to whet the appetite to return and when Royal Portrush was announced as the 2025 host venue, he was even more eager.
“I’m not going to lie, ever since I found out that it was going to be there in 2025, I’ve been thinking about it,” Mullarney said, having had some time to digest the disappointment of missing out in a playoff.
“I absolutely love that golf course, but I’m going to have to wait another five, six, maybe seven years to get another chance to play in an Open there.”
A total of 18 Irishmen teed it up across the four Final Qualifying venues, and one-by-one, it became clear that they were going to come up short, but at West Lancashire, Alex Maguire, Thomas Abom and Mullarney were all in the mix coming down the closing stretch.
Maguire and Abom’s hopes were dashed over the closing few holes, but Mullarney came up with a clutch birdie on the 18th – his 36th hole of the day – to force his way into what would ultimately be a four-for-two playoff.
Mullarney, Englishman Sam Bairstow, Oliver Lindell from Finland and Estonian amateur Richard Teder all headed for the 18th tee to compete in sudden death.
On the first playoff hole, with the other three facing short par putts, Lindell had around 40 feet for his par and looked certain to be leaving the party first, but somehow he holed it and then went on to birdie the next to be the first to punch his ticket to Portrush.
Mullarney had to hole five- and six-footers on both of those holes to keep his hopes alive and both times he was up to the challenge, but on the third playoff hole – which was back to 18 again – the young amateur played to his strength and thumped a drive to within 80 yards of the hole.
“I didn’t know anything about the guy,” Mullarney admits, “but man, he hits the ball a long way. I didn’t even know he was an amateur at the time, to be honest, but he played the hole perfectly.”
It wasn’t just the drive that was perfect. Teder still had work to do and Mullarney and Bairstow had birdie chances, but the Estonian, as seen in video clips that have since gone viral, holed-out for eagle. And that was that.
It was a case of “so near, and yet so far” for the Galway man.
“I could give you a nice answer and say I was happy with how I played and I can take the positives and all of that, but that would be a lie,” he said. “There was no real upside, to be honest. At least in an Alps Tour or Challenge Tour event or one of those, it all counts for Order of Merit or Rankings, but here, it was either you’re going to The Open or you’re not.”
Such is the life of a pro, he had to try to put it behind him quickly because the next event on his schedule was already looming large.
“The next morning, I had to get up and get a flight to Tenerife, then get a taxi, then get a boat [over to La Gomera], and then get another taxi to the hotel and then get up the next morning to play the first round of the Alps Tour event.
“There’s only so much feeling sorry for yourself that you can do, so in a way, it was good to get back on the course again.
“I was 50-50 on whether I was going to play in that Alps event in La Gomera the week before Open Qualifying, but at the end of the day, playing in that Open at Portrush would’ve been brilliant and a career highlight, but I don’t want to be playing on the Alps Tour next year and it could come down to fine margins.
“We’ve got six or seven events left and I’m going to play them all and give my best in all, so even if I had qualified for The Open, I was making that trip the next day regardless.”
