When you think of father and son duos to take on the Open Championship, your mind might immediately lead towards the iconic Old Tom Morris & Young Tom Morris partnership. Morris Sr. won the second-ever edition of the major way back in 1961, only for his son to follow in his footsteps 7 years later. Ironically, Morris Jr.’s triumph in 1868 saw him beat his old man by 3 strokes for his first major. Since then, there have been very few great father/son duos to even feature in the major. That could have changed this year, but the Poulters failed to make it through the qualifiers.
With only a couple of weeks left for the final major of the season, LIV Golf pro Ian Poulter and amateur golfer Luke Poulter were at the Royal Cinque Ports. They were both competing in the Final Qualifying Round for the Open Championship 2025. Unfortunately, after the 36-hole contest, they missed the top 5 of the leaderboard by 3 strokes. Moments after their departure from the course, Ian shared a story on Instagram thanking everyone for their support.
The caption read, “Huge thanks to all the spectators who came out to watch today @royalcinqueports @theranddagolf Unfortunately a little short. Wishing you all the very best.” In the video, he explained how he was a bit disappointed with both their performances, but thanked everyone for showing up to watch them. The story also showed Luke driving as they were heading back home after a long day.
Image Source: Ian Poulter Instagram
There is no question that the Poulters tried, and they truly seemed upset about missing out on Ian’s Instagram story. Let’s take a look at how they performed in the two rounds to understand how close they were to qualifying.
Luke & Ian Poulter’s trial at Royal Cinque Ports
The 36-hole contest featured many strong contenders for Luke & Ian Poulter. The field included LIV Golf pros such as Dean Burmester, David Puig, Peter Uihlein, among others. However, only one of them made it through the qualifiers, and he did so in a dominating fashion. Burmester topped the leaderboard with a 10-under par 134 in two rounds. Puig missed the top five by 2 strokes, and Uihlein was 4 strokes away from qualification.
The Poulters were close to qualification. And after the first round, it seemed like Luke had nearly booked his ticket. He was going toe-to-toe with Burmester after a 5-under par 67 in the first 18 holes. However, a +4 in the second round pushed the amateur golfer’s score down to 1-under par 143. Ian made par in the first round and scored 1-under in the second to tie with his son at T13. A few more good putts in the final round would have guaranteed them a shot in the 2025 Open Championship.
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