Irish pair Mullarney and Carey among 16 qualifiers for 150th Open at St Andrews

Ronan Mullarney and David Carey have booked their places for the 150th Open at St Andrews next month after both players negotiated 36 holes of qualifying today.

The Irish pair were among 16 players from a starting field of 288 at four venues that qualified for the Open championship through final qualifying.

Mullarney, the Galway native who won his first professional title at the Toro Tour's Valle Romano Championship last November, negotiated the windy conditions on the Kent coast to finish tied for second on three-under par at Princes to take one of four spots available.

Carey came out on top at Fairmont St Andrews in testing conditions after he finished ahead of the field on a seven-under-par total of 137.

The Dubliner, who visited the Old Course yesterday to take in the surroundings, was inspired to post a bogey-free 69 followed by a 68 which included an eagle and two birdies to clinch a berth in the field for The Open in July when he will make his debut.

"I’m very happy. It was a long day, especially with the rain and wind there this afternoon," Carey said afterwards.

"I was just trying to stay patient and do the simple things. I’ve been playing well the last few weeks. I’ve had a lot of solid scores without anything amazing, so I felt like I had been close to a really good week.

"I know this is a shocking admission by someone from Ireland, but I haven’t actually played a links course in about two years, so when I got here and saw it was quite soft, I was happy as it was a little more familiar to me.

"I’m very big on my golf history. I have been saying to everybody for the last three months that I wanted to play in The 150th Open at St Andrews so this is special.

"I went to the Old Course for the first time yesterday and