Thriston Lawrence nearly had his Masters invitation thrown back in his face Sunday evening at Royal Troon.
After finding a pot bunker off the tee at the par-4 finishing hole, Lawrence got aggressive and sent his approach shot right into the bunker’s sodded face. His ball ricocheted back, almost hitting the burly South African but instead coming to rest on turf behind the trap.
His ball having traveled negative-2 yards, Lawrence suddenly found himself grinding to punch his ticket to Augusta National next spring. At 6 under, Lawrence was solo fourth and a shot ahead of Russell Henley. With the top 4 and ties being exempt into the following year’s Masters, bogey or better would get the job done for Lawrence; a double or worse, however, would not.
Lawrence did one better than necessary, hitting his third shot 148 yards to 8 feet and rolling in the par save to solidify his solo-fourth showing, his best major finish in six career starts but also his first top-40.
“I didn’t actually put myself under the pressure that some people are supposed to,” Lawrence said. “I just looked at it as a normal Sunday of a normal golf tournament. Yes, it is The Open, it is a bigger stage. But being in that moment, I felt so calm. It felt like a normal Sunday, me trying to win a golf tournament, trying to be creative, and I managed to accomplish that. So very proud of myself.”
Billy Horschel, No. 62 in the world rankings coming into the week, also clinched his 2025 Masters berth with a T-2, as did No. 67 Justin Rose, the other runner-up to Xander Schauffele this week.
The top 10 and ties earned their way back for the 2025 Open at Royal Portrush, a list that included a few players who were not yet officially in the field: Henley (fifth), Shane Lowry (sixth), Sungjae Im (T-7), Adam Scott (T-10), Dan Brown (T-10) and Matthew Jordan (T-10). Jordan, a qualifier last year for Royal Liverpool, now has back-to-back Open top-10s.