29 Jun 2009

Smail qualified for British Open with second placing in Japan

6:46 am on 29 June 2009

The New Zealand golfer David Smail has qualified for next month's British Open by finishing second at the Mizuno Open in Japan.

39 year old Smail finished three shots behind the 17 year old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa in an event that offered British Open starts to the top four finishers.

The field for the Open championship, starting on the 16th of July will include at least five New Zealanders with Smail joining Mark Brown, Michael Campbell, Tim Wilkinson and Josh Geary at Turnberry in Scotland.

New professional James Gill is through to the final qualifying phase next week.