Golf:Veteran American Davis Love III was one of eight players to secure places for this year's British Open, ensuring he will make his 23rd consecutive start in the season's third major.

Love carded rounds of 67 and 65 for a 10-under-par total of 132 at Gleneagles Country Club in the U.S. leg of international qualifying for the July 16-19 Open at Turnberry in Scotland.

"I actually thought the scores would be a bit lower than this so I was glad to get in," the 45-year-old said after tying for third in a field of 78.

"It's my favourite major - the way they set up the course and the tradition. It's certainly the one where I feel like I have a real good chance to be competitive."

Fellow American Matt Kuchar led the way at Gleneagles, rounds of 63 and 66 earning him a fifth appearance at the British Open.

Also qualifying for Turnberry were Americans Jeff Overton and James Driscoll, Scotland's Martin Laird, Swedes Richard S. Johnson and Fredrik Jacobsen and New Zealander Tim Wilkinson.

"I can't believe I'm the medallist out of this field," said 1997 US amateur champion Kuchar, who has missed the cut in his four previous British Open appearances.

"I'm really tired right now, but I've worked really hard and hit a lot more balls than I usually do and think this will be a good momentum boost for me."

Laird, who finished level with Love, Driscoll, Johnson, Jacobsen and Wilkinson at 10 under, was delighted to qualify for his first professional event in his native Scotland.

"I've only played the (US) Nationwide and PGA Tour so this is going to be great," the 26-year-old from Glasgow said.

Among those falling short was Swede Jesper Parnevik, second behind Zimbabwe's Nick Price in the 1994 British Open, the last time the championship was held at Turnberry.

Parnevik was among the early front-runners at Gleneagles after firing a sparkling 64 in the morning but slipped back into a tie for 16th after carding a 70 in the afternoon.