Shropshire's Oliver Farr back in The Open after qualifying success

The Ludlow ace shot one under par to secure one of the five places available through final qualifying at Royal Portcawl.

And that means he will be heading to the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool in two weeks’ time to compete for the famous Claret Jug.

“It’s great to qualify in back-to-back years,” said the 35-year-old. “Hollinwell was really good last year, I was in a different scenario where I was pretty comfortable coming down the last and I was in.

“Today I was trying to push for birdies to get into it. It was a different experience but I’m just glad to be playing in The Open again.”

Farr reached the 150th staging of The Open at St Andrews last year, but shot rounds of 76 and 74 to miss the cut.

And after his strong performance in qualifying, as well as last year’s experience under his belt, he hopes to be able to enjoy the tournament more this year.

“I played better than I scored at St Andrews last year and hopefully I can learn from that and do the things I did to play well, while maybe trying to enjoy the experience a bit more,” added Farr. “I was a bit too result-focused last year, this time I just want to enjoy it.”

The English trio of Laurie Canter, Brandon Robinson-Thompson and Matt Southgate also qualified at Royal Porthcawl, along with Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond.

However, Sergio Garcia will miss the Open Championship for the first time since 1997 after failing to come through final qualifying.

Garcia, who finished joint second behind Rory McIlroy the last time Royal Liverpool staged the Open in 2014, was unable to claim one of the five places on offer in the 36-hole qualifying event at West Lancashire.

The former Masters champion was in good shape following an opening 67, but could only add a second round of 71 to finish six under par, five shots behind leading qualifier Matt Wallace.