POULTER OFF TO THE OPEN

IAN POULTER made home advantage tell at Woburn yesterday to book his place at the Open in a fortnight. Cheered on by a gallery that was several thousand strong, the 41-year-old Englishman shot rounds of 70 and 68 to book one of only three spots available at the Birkdale showpiece from final qualifying at the Bedfordshire course. It ended a run of five successive majors that Poulter has missed. Making his return at the Southport links will be particularly sweet because he mounted a strong challenge there for the Claret Jug in 2008, before settling for the runner-up spot behind Padraig Harrington. ‘I’m delighted to make it and it helped playing on my home course in front of so many people,’ he said. ‘It will be great to go back to Birkdale, where I have many good memories.’ Elsewhere, fellow Englishman Matt Southgate continued his fairytale comeback from testicular cancer 18 months ago to make it through at Royal Cinque Ports. Southgate finished 12th at Royal Troon last year and was unlucky not to secure an exempt spot for Birkdale, missing out by one agonising shot. He made no mistake yesterday, though, with fine rounds of 71 and 65.