Dimi Papadatos goes from DQ to a place in the British Open

Two weeks ago, Dimitrios Papadatos was disqualied in the UAE for bending his club. Now he’s off to the British Open.

Dimitrios Papadatos plays a shot at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney yesterday during the final round of the Australian Open. Picture: AAP

Superstars? Gotta have ’em. For the substance. The sense of occasion. The narrative. But when they’re too important, money-hungry or precious to have a whack at the Australian Open, there’s still a palpable sense of theatre surrounding the understudies — especially when they’re hustling for career-altering, life-changing golden passes to next year’s British Open.

Two weeks ago, Dimitrios Papadatos was playing the Challenge Tour Grand Final in the United Arab Emirates. At stake was qualification for one of the sport’s field of dreams, the land of milk and honey on the European Tour. He made four birdies in six holes. But then, triple bogey. And then, quadruple-bogey. He felt like throwing up. Instead, he chucked an eight-iron. When he noticed a minuscule bend in the shaft after using the club again, a breach of the rules, he told an official. He was disqualified. Shattered. And on a plane back home.

Time rolls on like a downhill putt. Yesterday he was in the thick of a thrilling subplot to the final round at The Lakes. Three unheralded souls, including the Stonehaven Cup-hugging Abraham Ancer, would get a start at the British Open, the most prestigious of all the majors. ’Twas a massive carrot being dangled over the back nine. The rewards for Ancer’s dominance were self-evident. He won the tournament. The trophy. Enough money to pay the rent. And the first Open ticket. Behind him was the mad scramble to join him in the all-important top three. At one stage, only four shots separated 24 players who wanted to get a tee time at Northern Ireland’s sepia-toned Royal Portrush course in July.

You assumed it was all they had on their minds. Jake McLeod wandered out of the scorers hut with one of the berths sewn up and said, “Um, to be honest, I forgot it was a British Open qualifier.”

He added: “I just found out then. It would be my first time to Northern Ireland. My first major, obviously. It’d be unreal. I wouldn’t have any words for it. I do remember people qualifying for it from here but as I was out there today, I completely forgot. I was just trying to finish second because Abraham was off with the lead. We were all playing for second.”

McLeod was in the clubhouse at 10-under par. His closing round of six-under 66 polished off a stellar fortnight that included last week’s NSW Open triumph. Nine players were still on the course. Papadatos was one shot ahead of McLeod. He needed a par on his 72nd hole to make the Open. “We’ll see what Dimi does,” McLeod said.

Dimi made a clutch up-and-down. In front of the clubhouse, he and McLeod were handed replica flags from the 18th green at Royal Portrush by an Open official. Rarely have non-winners looked so chuffed. McLeod’s silver lining. And Papadatos’s. The 148th Open has been set down for July 18-21. They’re in it.

“What an unbelievable bonus,” Papadatos told The Australian. “It was disappointing what happened a couple of weeks ago with the DQ. But I just wanted to have a great week here. I could have looked at the negatives. I stuffed up a great opportunity. I could have moped around about it but if I looked at the positives, at the start of the year I had no status. I flew to the Portugal Open for a one-off event and won it. Played some European Tour events. Had great results. Realistically, I 100 per cent would have taken all that at the start of the year. If I’m good enough, I’ll end up on the European Tour anyway.”

He was buzzing. A final round of five-under 67 had his signature on it. He’d come second at the Australian Open. A majors’ debut had been secured.

“It’s good for the self-belief,” he said. “That’s what I lack, a little bit. I do have a hot head sometimes but I’m not overly aggro. I got myself into trouble when I threw a club a couple of weeks ago, like most people have done.

“When I realised what had happened, I couldn’t believe it. There was such a small bend in the club. It was hard to see, nearly impossible to see.

“The rules official was trying to see if there was a loophole because it was so minute. It was a long flight home from Dubai, but now this has happened. I know what I’ve learned this week. You’ve just got to keep plugging away.”