Maybe they should erect some type of plaque to honour Paul Dunne at Woburn, for the Greystones golfer achieved the quite remarkable feat of leading the final qualifying there for a third successive year as he secured his place in the field for next month's British Open at Royal Troon.

The 23-year-old fired rounds of 68-67 for a nine-under-par 36-holes total of 135 to top final qualifying at The Marquess’ Course, outside London. The difference this time for Dunne - who shared the 54 holes lead in the Open at St Andrews last year - is that he will be returning to the championship as a professional.

Dunne - who is competing in the French Open this week on the European Tour, starting Thursday - eked out a place in the history books by winning final qualifying at the same venue for a third straight year. After opening with a 68, Dunne got off to a flying start to his afternoon second round with three straight birdies and totalled eight birdies and three bogeys in a dominant display to earn his ticket to Troon.

There were 12 spots in all available at four venues Tuesday, and former European kingpin Colin Montgomerie - winner of eight Order of Merit titles on the main tour - secured a spot at final qualifying at Gailes Links in Scotland. Although Sweden's Oskar Arvidsson, ranked 1,418 in the world, led the way, Monty claimed the third available place which means a return to home turf at Troon for the Scot.