The Open lived up to its name on Monday, giving 12 players a chance to earn the final spot in the championship through the Last Chance Qualifier.
The field included notables like World No. 77 Aldrich Potgieter, No. 78 Matti Schmid, Wesley Bryan and others who had missed advancing through Final Qualifying by a shot or lost in a playoff. One of the players who lost in a playoff last month was Englishman Joe Dean.
With his fiancée Emily caddying, Dean emerged victorious from the dozen. Playing alongside Schmid, who finished T21 on Sunday at the Scottish Open, the 32-year-old Englishman shot 2-under, finishing one clear of HotelPlanner Tour member Andrew Wilson. Dean and Emily have their wedding date set for next Tuesday – if all goes well this week, they'll arrive just in the nick of time.
“It’s fantastic,” Dean said to Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard after the round. “To have the opportunity again to be here and play with the best players in the world, it’s obviously amazing. For the R&A and all the guys to put this on is a great opportunity for us.”
At the beginning of 2024, after eight seasons as a pro, Dean was struggling to pay the bills. He took a job delivering groceries for a supermarket. Three or four days a week, Dean spent his days driving a truck. When he'd saved enough, he traveled to Kenya and put the "Magical" in Magical Kenya Open. He finished runner-up and earned $217,000. A storybook season continued when Dean finished T25 at the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon and 37th on the season-long points standings.
Dean arrived at the Last Chance Qualifier ranked No. 67 on the DP World Tour Order of Merit with two recent top-10s.
Playing the front nine at Royal Birkdale steadily, Dean made the turn with eight pars and a birdie. Then he flagged his approach on the 434-yard par-4 11th for a tap-in birdie to take the lead.
After a scrambling bogey on 13, Dean bounced back with the shot of the day on the 602-yard par-5 15th. From 250 yards, Dean’s 6-iron soared on the helping breeze and bounded to four feet, setting up an eagle. He took a three-shot lead.
Dean three-putted the following hole for bogey and flared his approach on 18 into the greenside bunker. With Wilson in the clubhouse at 1-under and Potgieter in the group behind also at 1-under, Dean needed to get up-and-down to post 2-under.
Dean said he “fancied” the bunker shot. His ball splashed out to near perfection, settling four feet past the hole. Potgieter pulled his drive on 18 into the fescue, making birdie unlikely. With packed stands around the 18th green, the stage was set for Dean. A smooth stroke sealed the deal. Dean secured a tee time in The Open and will play alongside Max Homa and Henrik Stenson on Thursday.
“It’s always hard in golf because there’s so many variables out there,” Dean said. “It only takes one bad bounce to derail a round.”
Dean has built momentum this season and says he’s starting to feel like he did when he played his best golf in 2024. Emily will carry his bag on Thursday. No reason to change what’s working. This will be Dean’s third Open Championship, and he’ll have less time to work on his wedding speech this week.
“At the moment, I’m more nervous about the wedding speech, getting married, than teeing it up on Thursday.”
With steady play and a couple of good bounces, there will be much to celebrate next week.
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