20-Year-Old Notches British Open First By Holing Eagle Shot to Qualify | Latest TMZ Celebrity News & Gossip | Watch TMZ Live

20-Year-Old Notches British Open First By Holing Eagle Shot to Qualify

Richard Teder, a 20-year-old amateur, will be the first Estonian to play in the British Open after holing out in a playoff at final qualifying.
The 2025 British Open will feature its first-ever Estonian.
The 2025 British Open will feature its first-ever Estonian. / Jack Gruber-Imagn Images

Calling it one of the most improbable golf shots ever isn’t being hyperbolic. 

On Tuesday, 20-year-old Richard Teder was in a 4-for-2 playoff at West Lancashire Golf Club just outside of Liverpool in final qualifying for the British Open. The world’s 91st-ranked amateur, on the third extra hole, hit a 340-yard drive and then holed a 90-yard eagle chip to earn a spot in the year’s final major. 

The celebration that followed was almost as iconic as the shot itself. 

“I don’t think it has kicked in yet,” Teder told theOpen.com. “I’m playing in the Open with all the best players in the world, and I like to think I belong there, so it’ll be fun.”

Teder, who fell into the playoff with a double bogey on the final hole in regulation, is now the first Estonian to ever play in the British Open. 

The northeastern European nation that borders Russia has a population of 1.3 million—and there are only 10 golf courses in the country. 

Now, it can claim one of the British Open’s biggest Cinderella stories. 

“It means everything [to qualify],” Teder said. “It means the world to me. I just can’t wait to get back home and celebrate and just get ready for the Open.”

The British Open begins Thursday, July 17, at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland.


Published
Max Schreiber
MAX SCHREIBER

Max Schreiber is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, covering golf. Before joining SI in October 2024, the Mahwah, N.J., native, worked as an associate editor for the Golf Channel and wrote for RyderCup.com and FanSided. He is a multiplatform producer for Newsday and has a bachelor's in communications and journalism from Quinnipiac University. In his free time, you can find him doing anything regarding the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Islanders.


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