Leading the way was Road to Mallorca Number One MJ Daffue and Norwegian Baard Skogen, who shared top honours at Royal Cinque Ports after finishing with a two-round total of 12 under par.

South African Daffue, who has tasted victory twice on the 2026 Road to Mallorca, carded rounds of 67-65, including back-to-back eagles during his opening 18, to confirm his spot at the final Major Championship of the season. Daffue will make his Open Championship debut in Southport and second Major appearance after teeing it up at the 2022 U.S. Open.

“I am so excited,” he said.

“I don’t know Royal Birkdale at all but I love links golf and I have been playing good golf this year so this is where I want to be.

“It was a good performance today and I am really proud of it. I played smart but I also executed amazing shots coming down the stretch and that is testament to my practice and preparation, but also I live in Texas so I am used to the wind.”

Skogen will also make his Open debut at Royal Birkdale after dropping just one shot over two rounds on the Kent coast, as rounds of 68-64 saw him tie Daffue at the top.

The Norwegian has played 11 times on the Road to Mallorca this year and will now make the short trip to France to compete in this week’s Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge, the second of back-to-back HotelPlanner Tour events in the country.

“It feels great,” Skogen said.

“I haven’t had many opportunities to qualify for the majors. I’ve never played well on links courses at amateur championships, so I was caught by surprise at how well I played today.”

Skogen and Daffue were also joined by Matthew Southgate at Royal Cinque Ports, as the Englishman came through Final Qualifying for a remarkable sixth time after rounds of 68-66 left him in solo third on ten under par.

Southgate won his first HotelPlanner Tour event at the Swiss Challenge last month with this latest landmark continuing what has been a fine season for the 37-year-old.

“It’s been a really good day,” Southgate said.

“It’s obviously a course I love playing. I’ve always been a good links player and very passionate about playing in The Open.

“It seems to bring the best out in me, so it’s very, very rewarding to get up at 04:30 this morning and get a spot into Royal Birkdale again.”

Away from the Deal venue, Germany’s Tiger Christensen cruised through to the 154th Open at West Lancashire after setting the pace with an opening round of 65, which included two eagles.

Christensen, who has played seven HotelPlanner Tour events this year, is looking forward to teeing it up for a second time at The Open after making his debut in 2023.

“It will be the highlight of the season to play in The Open, honestly I don’t know what else to say,” he said.

“I was a little overwhelmed when I played in The Open the last time [at Royal Liverpool]. I’m going to dial down the practice rounds this time around and save some energy.

“Now that it’s been three years and I’ve turned pro, I feel I can hopefully compete against the guys at Birkdale.”

The 154th Open will take place at Royal Birkdale from July 16-19.