Dyson and Baker survive IFQ play-off drama

Simon Dyson and Peter Baker survived a six-man play-off for the last two qualifying places at IFQ Europe, held at Sunningdale.

Alongside the English duo were Ross McGowan and Chris Rodgers, also of England, Alastair Forsyth, of Scotland, and Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain. Forsyth and McGowan were both knocked out at the first extra hole after failing to get up and down, and Rodgers went at the next with a bogey. On the third hole, Olazabal drove into the rough with a 5-wood and was forced to lay up, eventually playing his third from behind where Dyson's monstrous drive had finished. Baker was also safely on in two, leaving Olazabal a 20ft putt to stay alive, a putt which he left short.

Dyson was particularly relieved to have made it, having got to six under par with three holes left of regular play before dropping two shots to end up in the play-off. But his huge drive to within 50 yards of the green on the final play-off hole secured his place. "It's a good play, it takes the bunkers out of the equation," he said of the drive from which he pitched to six feet. "All I was doing with the putt was trying not to knock it four feet past!"

Olazabal, by contrast, must have been hugely disappointed to fail at the last hurdle, since he had followed an indifferent 71 in the morning with a 65 in the afternoon to put himself in with a chance. Yet the Spaniard is still carrying an injury - he said that he would not have been playing had a spot in The Open not been up for grabs - and perhaps his fitness began to take its toll on the 39th hole of the day.

Alastair Forsyth will be similarly disappointed. He had qualification in his hands who had a beautiful 65 in the morning but dropped back with a 71 in the afternoon. As if that weren't enough, he will return home this evening to the news that his brief tenure as Scottish number one is over, following Colin Montgomerie's second place finish at the weekend.

Earlier in the afternoon Simon Wakefield followed an opening round of 65 with a 68 to finish among the top the qualifiers at IFQ Europe. An avalanche of late birdies in his opening round allowed Wakefiled the luxury of relaxing somewhat over his lunch, knowing that steady burn rather than fireworks would be all that he needed in the afternoon. A steady 68 was plenty, and he is relishing the thought of heading to Birkdale in three weeks' time.

Though it's a course he's never played, he has strong memories of watching Ian Baker-Finch winning the 1991 Open at the venue. "At the time I was too busy climbing conker trees to worry about playing golf," said Wakefield. "But my mum and dad took me along there to try and inspire me to get back into the game. It worked!"

Round of the day, however, belonged to Swede Alexander Noren, who must have considered packing up and going home after a morning 72 on the New Course. Yet he must be glad he stayed: a 63 on the Old Course in the afternoon propelled him up the leaderboard and secured him a spot at Birkdale. If anyone knows what he had for lunch, please let us know...

Elsewhere, 2007 Walker Cup player David Horsey made it through to The Open with fine rounds of 68 and 67. Horsey credited his recent win on the Challenge Tour with giving him the confidence he needed to play so well in one of the toughest days of the year on the Tour. "Winning a few weeks ago really kickstarted things for me," he said.

Several players had produced good morning rounds, only to fall away drastically over the second 18. Wales's Sion Bebb followed his opening 68 on the Old Course with an afternoon 77 on the New to go from being well-placed to near the bottom of the field. Equally disappointed will be England's Benn Barham, who shot 67-75; Australia's Matthew Zions, who shot 66-76; Robert Dinwiddie, with 66-72; and Mark Tullo, with 66-71. That none of them will be teeing up in The Open despite such good scoring goes to demonstrate the incredible strength in depth of this 240-man field.

Thomas Bjorn will also be ruing his luck, but for very different reasons. After a decent 68 in the morning, an injured shoulder forced him to withdraw after 11 holes of the afternoon round; he will be missing his first Open since 1995. "I tried to soldier on, particularly given that another player put a new slant on playing through injury a few weeks ago," said Bjorn, "but in the end I thought I should step aside and let Pelle [Edberg] concentrate on having a go at it." Bjorn walked the final holes with Edberg, marking his card and watching him finish on 135, safely within the likely qualifying number. But for Bjorn, it's disappointment, and having come to close to winning The Open at St George's in 2003 the Dane must be wondering if he is jinxed never to win the championship.