Why can’t Peter Finch qualify for The Open and achieve the unthinkable?

Dedicating his time to YouTube, no one thought he’d get close to Open glory.

‘Let me know in the comments. Like and subscribe. Smash that like button’. He’s learned the vlogging language.

Perhaps misunderstood at times, he has turned his big-hitting prowess into a force for good and skyrocketed in popularity.

He worked on himself, and now he is in position to present on the biggest stage and conquer the ultimate challenge of links golf.

Joining Bryson DeChambeau in the field at Royal Portrush this year could be Peter Finch, after he shot the joint-lowest score in his Regional Qualifying heat for The Open Championship at Caldy.

He has become a completely different golfer in the last 12 months since he ate himself alive at the same preliminary stage at Hesketh. Throughout the round and during his podcast afterwards in 2024, he was an emotional wreck and appeared permanently bruised by what was an exasperating ordeal.

“I can honestly say that over those first 14 holes, I didn’t have a clue where that ball was going. Not a clue. I couldn’t feel anything.”

Though it’s easy to say as a run-of-the-mill club golfer, there is no need for players to lump pressure on themselves at Regional Qualifying, when there is no less than 36 holes up next at Final Qualifying against former tour winners and Ryder Cuppers should you progress.

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Peter Finch: Final Qualifying success is improbable, but not out of the question

Yet Finch, who has over 740,000 YouTube subscribers, put the weight of the world on his own shoulders and played well below what he was capable of. Now we have seen what he’s capable of, which is why he has a genuine chance of reaching The Open Championship. This means the world to him. He loves The Open like you and I.

I created a clip on TikTok last week and, in the comments, no one thought Finch had a chance. Impossible, some said.

The difficulty of advancing through Final Qualifying isn’t lost on me. I have been to West Lancs in each of the last two years and seen Sergio Garcia play fabulous golf each time, and fail to get through.

It isn’t by chance that Regional Qualifiers rarely go again and earn a spot in the field for golf’s oldest major. PGA Tour stars, DP World Tour figures and former Ryder Cup competitors enter the fray in Final Qualifying, so the competition is stronger.

Finch is down to face Alex Noren and Adrian Meronk at Dundonald Links on July 1. That pair will probably occupy two of the five spots available. That leaves three spots. Three. That isn’t many.

He will also have to beat Rafa Cabrera Bello, Johannes Veerman and Angel Hidalgo, who have all won on the DP World Tour. Finch has never played at that level, and he never will. Lee Westwood is also turning up.

But, this is one day of 36 holes. If Finch gets the conditions, which I assume the awful kind would suit him if it equalises the field somewhat, then he will fancy himself. And remember, tied for fifth after 36 holes means a playoff, where anything is possible.

That has been the big switch for him. He often harps back to when he played and recorded a podcast with two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington, who taught him to have perspective.

Finch fancies himself and he shifts the ball a long, long way.

He shot under par in brutal conditions at a windswept Caldy. He has spent plenty of time at Dundonald in his creator career and he has now proven himself in front of a crowd.

It is indisputable that more people will go and watch Final Qualifying at the Ayrshire track now that he is playing. He will draw a bigger crowd following him than most of the tour winners I have listed.

As a fan, I’ve seen the Preston man come on leaps and bounds. He is living and breathing proof of how confidence and a strong mentality can delude us as golfers. If I believe I’ll shoot level-par in the medal on Sunday, why can’t I?

He’s riding the crest of a wave, and although he needs a miracle, miracles happen.

Update: How did Peter Finch get on at Final Qualifying?

Teeing off for his first round at 7.50am with DP World Tour players Marc Warren and Jack Senior, Peter Finch began from Dundonald’s 10th hole with a par and reached the turn at one par following a double bogey at the 15th and a birdie at the 18th.

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He traded a bogey and a birdie at the 1st and 3rd holes but dropped shots at his last two holes – the 8th and 9th – to finish with a three-over 75 and had plenty to do on his second round to make Royal Portrush.

Finch kicked off his second 18 with a birdie at the 1st and had another at the 5th, but these were negated by bogeys at the 4th and 7th. That meant he was even par for the second round and +3 through 27.

A birdie on the 11th raised hopes of an incredible run through his final few holes, but he tripled the 14th. In an up-and-down final few holes, he also bogeyed 15, birdied 16 and dropped a shot on 17 before parring the last for another 75, a six-over-par total of 150, and leaving him in a tie for 44th.

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