Ian Woosnam kept his run of Open championships going with a dramatic sudden death play-off chip-in at the final qualifying competition yesterday on a day which brought no joy for the 14 Irish competitors.

Woosnam, who has played in every Open since 1981, thought he had blown his hopes when he bogeyed the final two holes of his second round at Prince's.

But four hours later the former world number one - third at Lytham only two years ago - found himself battling with four others for three places in Thursday's starting line-up.

It did not look good when he missed the green at the first, but after changing from a wedge to a nine-iron he holed from nearly 70 feet. "It was about time I had a bit of luck," he said. "I'm happy and I'm going for a pint! The chip was from a bit of a fluffy lie, but it came out absolutely perfect."

Emerging unscathed from the final qualifying is a trick that proves beyond most practitioners with stories of putts that horse-shoe out and drives that get crazy kicks into the rough resounding around the links. For the most part, it is one sob story after another.

Yesterday, surviving the mad lottery, with just seven places on offer at each of the four qualifying venues, proved to be very much beyond the Irish players. Their failure to qualify means that just four Irish players - Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Gary Murphy - will be competing in the season's third major.

Of the Irish seeking to qualify, Colm Moriarty, the amateur from Athlone with Walker Cup aspirations, went closest. He shot a second round 69 for a level par total of 142 at Littlestone - but that was only good enough for tied-14th place.

Another amateur, Mark O'Sullivan, the Irish Close champion from Galway, was well-positioned heading into the second round. However, he could only add a 75 to his opening 68 for a one-under par total of 143, which left him in tied-15th at Prince's and three strokes away from a play-off.

Elsewhere, it was doom and gloom for the Irish players. Ciaran McMonagle, who was also well placed after his first round, was another to disappoint. He added a 73 to his opening 67 for 140 and tied-27th position. It is the second successive year that no Irish competitor has managed to emerge from final qualifying.