Brandon Stone's remarkable rookie season on the European Tour hit another milestone at the 100th Open de France as the South African qualified for the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
There were four places available in the season's third Major Championship at Le Golf National with the top four players in the top 12 who were not already exempt earning a trip to Scotland.
Stone recorded rounds of 69-68-73-70 to finish in a tie for fifth at four under with countryman Richard Sterne, Swede Alex Noren and England's Callum Shinkwin also sealing their ticket to the Ayrshire Coast.
The 23 year old secured his playing privileges via last season's Challenge Tour and then went on to win his National Open at the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni in his second event of the season.
He now has the Open, the Olympics and potentially the US PGA Championship to look forward to, and Stone is excited about the summer ahead.
"One of the goals for the year was to play my first Major," he said. "This result has got me into the Open but hopefully it has got me into the PGA with the top 100 in the World Rankings.
I'm very exblockquoted. I've got some great tournaments coming up, the Open, PGA and the Olympics in the next few months so I'm really exblockquoted for the next stretch of events - Brandon Stone
"I'm over the moon. Any time you get to represent your country on a global scale it's quite special but to do it at the Olympics, it doesn't get any bigger, it doesn't get any more prestigious, it's going to a massive honour to wear the green and gold."
Shinkwin will also be making his Open debut, while Noren and Sterne will be playing in their sixth and eighth Opens respectively.
