Veteran duo book Open places

Former Ryder Cup pair Barry Lane and Paul Broadhurst, aged 52 and 46 respectively, have both made it back into the Open Championship.

Broadhurst, whose round of 63 at St Andrews in 1990 has still to be bettered in any major, won the 36-hole final qualifying event at St Annes Old on Tuesday with rounds of 70 and 67.

And with only three of the 72 players going through to Royal Lytham in a fortnight, Lane's second round 70 enabled him to finish joint second with Argentina's Rafa Echenique one behind on six under par.

Lytham will be the 682nd European Tour appearance of Lane's career, only 24 short of Sam Torrance's record.

His Open debut came 25 years ago and the last time he played was in 2006, while Broadhurst's debut was in 1988 - he finished as low amateur - and he last qualified three years ago.

Among those to miss out on the course, one of four in use to decide 12 qualifiers, were Bristol's Chris Wood - fifth in the 2008 Open as an amateur and then joint third the following year at Turnberry - and another ex-Ryder Cup man, Swede Jarmo Sandelin.

At Hillside it was an English trio who came through - former European Tour winner Warren Bennett, 2009 Walker Cup player Dale Whitnell and Kent's Steven Tiley.

Ex-Ryder Cup duo Peter Baker and Mark James, Europe's captain in 1999, failed along with James Conteh, son of former world boxing champion John.

Whitnell, from Tiptree in Essex, beat Bennett by one and Tiley by three on nine under and was quickly tweeting, with expletive deleted: "Yes, yes, yes - the boy's gonna be playing in The Open."

Steve Alker won at West Lancashire on seven under, but fellow New Zealander Michael Campbell, US Open champion seven years ago, shot level par - five too many to be in a play-off with Scot Steven O'Hara, Americans Scott Pinckney and Marty Jertson and St Pierre amateur Richard Bentham.

Lane, who qualified with a chip-in eagle at the last, commented: "I can't wait to play in The Open again."

Broadhurst, who plays the French Open this week as a past champion, will be returning to the Open venue 24 years after winning the amateur Lytham Trophy.

"I'm going back to Tour school this autumn, but probably for the last time," he said. "All I'm trying to do is keep my game in shape for the Senior Tour."

O'Hara and Pinckney survived the play-off at West Lancs, while at Southport and Ainsdale the winner was Dane Morten Orum Madsen, but there was disappointment there for former Tour star Nick Dougherty.

The Liverpudlian made only one halfway cut in losing his card last season and was still in with a good chance after an opening 70, but followed it with a 74.

A play-off was needed there as well. It involved Scotland's Chris Doak and Elliot Saltman - the player given a three-month Tour ban at the start of last season following a ball-marking incident - and also Hoylake professional Ian Keenan.

Saltman and Keenan took the final two qualifying spots, giving Saltman his second Open appearance in four years.

He was at Turnberry with his brother Lloyd in 2009, but Lloyd missed out by five at Hillside.

O'Hara, a Walker Cup team-mate of Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell in 2001, had to go to the fifth extra hole to secure an Open debut at the 11th attempt

"It's fantastic, especially to have had my dad Charlie as my caddie," he said. "It has made the day really special - it brought back a lot of memories for me."