Illinois, United States: Chinese Taipei’s CT Pan earned one of two coveted tickets to The Open Championship after finishing runner-up at the John Deere Classic.
The 32-year-old Pan carded a closing seven-under 64 at TPC Deere Run to enjoy his best finish of the season as American Davis Thompson sealed his maiden PGA Tour title by four strokes following a 64.
Korean Im Sung-jae finished tied 12th after a 64 while Pan’s compatriot Kevin Yu earned a share of 20th place following a 67.
Pan, who holds one PGA Tour title, was ecstatic to earn his fourth Open start at Royal Troon in two weeks’ time.
“It’s going to be a great trip. Honestly, it’s going to be hectic to arrange all the travel details last minute, but it will be a good problem to have. My wife and I will be looking forward to our trip there,” said Pan, runner-up to China's Guan Tianlang at the 2012 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.
Pan's second top-three finish of the season – he tied third in February’s Mexico Open at Vidanta – propelled him to 83rd position on the latest FedEx Cup standings, up from 116th. The top-70 qualify for the Play-offs next month following the conclusion of the Regular Season.
More importantly, his return to top form will be a confidence booster as Pan prepares to tee up at the Paris Olympics in early August after winning the bronze medal in Tokyo three years ago.
“The Open is always on the top of my ‘want to do’ list. I’ve been there three times. I feel if fits my game, but somehow in the past I haven’t played well. Hopefully this trip will be different,” said Pan, who played in The Open in 2014, 2019 and 2021 but missed the cut on all three occasions.
“I knew there were two spots (this week). Honestly, I did not pay too much attention on that. I just knew I needed to do really well out there to have a chance,” added Pan, who finished on 24-under, alongside Michael Thorbjornsen and amateur Luke Clanton, and took the second qualifying place thanks to his higher position in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Pan’s short game was sharp all week where he ranked third in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and 18th in putting for the tournament. In the final round he had nine birdies on the card against two bogeys but never quite threatened Davis, who cruised to his career breakthrough.
Pan said: “It feels great. Even last week when I missed the cut by one or two, I still felt great about my game. It’s just one of the weeks when everything clicks.”
There will, however, be some disappointment for several young golfers from Chinese Taipei who are due to compete in the CT Pan Junior Championship on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit, scheduled in Houston on the same week as The Open.
“Every year we invite 10 to 12 kids from Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) to participate in my AJGA tournament. I might have to say to those kids that you guys are on your own. I’m going to The Open,” he smiled.
