Richard Sterne’s week in Paris wasn’t without a little consolation.
After finishing solo second Sunday at the Alstom Open de France, four shots behind winner Graeme McDowell, Sterne earned one of five available British Open berths.
The leading five players (not otherwise exempt) in the top 20 in the updated Race to Dubai standings earned tee times in two weeks at Muirfield. The PGA Tour has a similar plan in place today after the final round of The Greenbrier Classic.
Sterne rose all the way to fourth in the yearlong race, while the other four qualifiers were Brett Rumford (sixth), Mikko Ilonen (eighth), Thomas Bjorn (13th) and Marc Warren (17th).
Bjorn has the best Open record of the bunch, with two runners-up among five top 10s in 15 career starts. The Dane was T-8 in 2002, the last time Muirfield hosted the year’s third major.