Golf: Kiwi duo still a chance to qualify for Open

Ryan Fox. Photo / Getty

New Zealand golfers Ryan Fox and Danny Lee's title chances are slipping away, but their prospects of qualifying for the British Open remain.

The duo both slipped back slightly in the third round of their respective events, yet are can still book a ticket to the third major of the year with a strong final round tomorrow morning.

Fox is the closest of the two to securing a trip to the Open. He sits in sixth place at the European Tour's Irish Open after carding a two-under 70 in his third round. That moved Fox to 13-under, four shots off the lead held by American Daniel Im and Spanish rising star Jon Rahm.

Fox had the longest average driving distance on the day, but struggled with his accuracy off the tee as he mixed three bogies with five birdies to fall two spots on the leaderboard.

The Irish Open awards a spot at the British Open to the top three finishers who are not already exempt, with Fox currently sitting in fourth spot out of the non-exempt golfers.

As a result, a strong final round should give Fox a chance to play in his second major, following his tie for 49th at the 2015 Open.

Things are slightly more difficult for Lee, who dropped back into a share of eighth at the Greenbrier Classic on the PGA Tour.

Lee, who is the defending champion at the Greenbrier event, had two birdies with two bogies to card an even par 70, and is six shots behind leader Sebastian Munoz.

After hitting 12 fairways in both his first two rounds, Lee lost his radar in his third round, hitting just seven. However, he continued to hit excellent approach shots, and managed to cobble together an average round to stay in touch.

The Greenbrier offers four Open berths to the top four finishers who are not otherwise exempt, and Lee is currently three shots outside the cut-off mark.

If unsuccessful, both Fox and Lee will have one final chance to qualify, with next week's Scottish Open providing three qualifying spots, and the John Deere Classic offering one.

Michael Hendry is currently the sole Kiwi to have qualified for the Open, which tees off in two weeks.