Johl aims to make it third time lucky

India's Amandeep Johl is hoping to be third time lucky in his bid to become only the third Indian golfer to play in the British Open.

The Asian PGA stalwart is attempting to qualify for the third Major of the year in final qualifying which begins on Sunday at St Annes Old Links course, which is one of the four qualifying venues.

The 32-year-old Johl has been in the United Kingdom for the past two weeks where he has practised on several links courses in Scotland to prepare for this year's assault. With wife Daavin providing the support from outside the ropes and experienced caddy John Roberts, who worked with last year's Davidoff Tour number one Simon Dyson, on the bag, Johl is optimistic of realising his dream.

"This is truly a links course and I have prepared my game for it," said Johl, who has played nine rounds of golf over a 10-day period to prepare for final qualifying. "I'm giving it all that I have and by the time I'm due to tee up on Sunday, I would have had four practice rounds (at St Annes Old Links)."

Gaurav Ghei became an instant national hero in 1997 when he qualified for the British Open to become the first player from India to feature in the world's oldest tournament. Last year, Jyoti Randhawa successfully negotiated final qualifying and played at St Andrews alongside Asian PGA regulars Yeh Wei-tze of Taiwan, Dyson and Myanmar's Kyi Hla Han.

Randhawa, who finished second on the Asian PGA Order of Merit last year, is down to tee up at Hillside while Jeev Milkha Singh, who has recorded three straight top-five outings in Japan in recent weeks, has entered to play at Southport and Ainsdale.

Johl first tried to qualify for the British Open in 1999 and shot a two-day total of 141 at Montrose Links to miss a play-off by four shots. Last year, he carded an aggregate of 142 over two rounds at Leven Links.

Johl has employed caddy Roberts and hopes that the latter will guide him through to Royal Lytham. Last year, Roberts, known fondly on tour as Ronnie, caddied for Dyson, who successfully qualified for St Andrews.

A total of 384 players will battle over four venues at final qualifying for an estimated of 26 places at the British Open. Amongst the big names down for the qualifiers are former US Masters winner Ian Woosnam and Europe's Ryder Cup skipper Sam Torrance.

Thai star Thongchai Jaidee, who played all four rounds at the US Open last month, is amongst the Asian PGA regulars trying to earn tickets to the British Open.