Jul 1, 2008 - 12:44 AM
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Goydos, Overton and 12 others will be heading to Royal Birkdale in July after surviving 36-hole qualifiers at Dearborn Country Club and TPC Michigan in suburban Detroit.
The runner-up in a playoff to Sergio Garcia at the Players Championship, Goydos posted rounds of 65-66 at Dearborn Country Club to earn medalist honors. The 44-year-old, who is on his 16th season on the PGA Tour, will be playing in the British Open for the first time.
"This was my No. 1 goal for the year," Goydos said. "If nothing else happened this year, I wanted to play in the British Open. A lot of other good things have happened on top of that, but this really has been my No. 1 goal."
PGA Tour rookie Michael Letzig (67-66) came in second to Goydos, followed by Doug LaBelle, who will also be making his British Open debut.
"I played on the Palmer Cup team in college and we were able to play the Old Course at St. Andrews," LaBelle said. "To play in the Open will be a tremendous honor."
Davis Love III, Rich Beem, Kevin Stadler and Craig Barlow took the final four spots at Dearborn, surviving a playoff after finishing at 9-under 135. Iain Steel did not advance after he three-putted the third extra hole.
Love needed a six-foot par putt on the final hole to get into the playoff and is heading to the Open for the 22nd consecutive year.
"It's easily my favorite tournament," Love said. "It's such a tradition. It's a great tournament and a great feeling to be able to go back. The Masters and the Open Championship are probably recognized around the world more than any others."
Overton cruised at TPC Michigan, firing rounds of 63-67 to finish at 14-under 130, six strokes clear of John Rollins with Tim Petrovic and Matt Kuchar at 7-under.
Alex Cejka, Tom Gillis and Scott McCarron also advanced out of TPC Michigan.
